Gautam Kumar Pritam is a social activist who is Socialist Party (India)’s candidate for the 2020 Bihar assembly elections from the Bihpur constituency in Bhagalpur. Gautam has been involved in social and political movements in the Bihpur area for many years now. He has been a strong advocate for the rights of farmers, farm labourers, students and women.
Gautam was a key figure in the recent protests to improve the economic condition of the maize farmers of Bihpur who despite producing some of the best quality maize in the country, live in poverty and debt. He participated in demonstrations demanding a Minimum Support Price for maize and has advocated for the setting up of maize-based food processing industries in the area so that farmers are not entirely dependent on inter-state supply chains.
Gautam also participated in the nation-wide protests against the Supreme Court’s order diluting the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 which took place on 2 April 2018. Even though the protest was completely peaceful, he was arrested and jailed for 54 days before finally obtaining bail from the High Court. The order was reversed by the Supreme Court on 1 October 2018.
There has been a long-standing demand of the local people that the Bihpur constituency, which consists of the Bihpur, Narayanpur and Kharik blocks, be given the status of a subdivision so that the administration of the area can be improved. Gautam participated in a hunger strike for the fulfillment of this demand as a result of which a separate Deputy Superintendent of Police post was instituted for the three blocks. However, the post is yet to be filled.
Gautam was also instrumental in the Covid-19 lockdown relief work carried out by the SP(I) and its students’ wing Socialist Yuvjan Sabha in Bihar, through which more than 1600 families were provided with food grains and other necessities.
Gautam identifies the poor quality of education and the high level of unemployment in Bihar as major concerns which need to be urgently addressed if the region is to make social and economic progress. In a recent interview with Kosi Nav-Nirman Manch leader Mahendra Yadav he said, “It is often said that India is a young country, but even within India, Bihar is amongst the youngest states. But most of our young people are compelled to migrate out of the state in search of employment or a good education.”
He believes that the 2007 report by the Bihar Common School System Commission comprising Muchkund Dubey, Anil Sadgopal and Madan Mohan Jha, which lays out an action plan for the implementation of a common public school system in the state and which has so far been ignored by the Bihar government, should be implemented to ensure that every child has access to good quality primary and secondary education.
He also considers land reform as an issue which needs to be high on the agenda of the state government. The Bandyopadhyay Commission was formed in 2005 to create a roadmap for this, which submitted a detailed report in 2008. According to Gautam, “they worked hard to collect data, they even conducted aerial surveys of the state. But today all those files are gathering dust. Land conflicts are the biggest reason behind the unrest and violence which has been happening in Bihar and land reform needs to be urgently implemented.”
Gautam has called for the data of the caste census conducted in 2011 to be made public and for reservations to be implemented on its basis. He believes that all socialist organisations in the country need to take up this issue. He says, “the social inequality and strife we see in our country has its roots in the Varna system. In the Indian context, capitalism and neo-imperialism form a nexus with caste and religion… To establish social justice in this country it is imperative that people from all sections of society are represented in all our institutions in proportion with the size of their population, be it in the judiciary, the legislature, the executive or the media. Socialists need to make this issue a focal point of their work. They must take it up in a systematic way and take to the streets with their demand.”
Gautam has been interacting closely with the migrant workers who have returned to Bihpur from different parts of the country due to the lockdown. These workers have had to endure arduous journeys, often on foot, to be able to reach their homes. But their troubles are not yet over as they are now struggling to earn a living. Gautam says that the government has forsaken its responsibility towards them. He believes that the people of Bihpur have only been disappointed by the politicians they have voted to power in the past and are desperately looking for a candidate who can stand up for their interests.
Being a strong advocate of electoral reforms which can provide a level playing field to all election candidates irrespective of their social or economic capital, he is determined to fight these elections with integrity and dignity. He says, “We do not have the resources and structures which allow bigger political parties to launch extravagant campaigns. We will have to form teams of volunteers and go from village to village and door to door. We will also have to fully harness the power of social media to get our message out.”
Gautam believes that the politics of the state has in recent decades become void of any sort of integrity or commitment towards improving the lives of common people. He wants his election campaign to be about the real issues on the ground. “Our main strategy is to connect with people at a personal level. We plan to carry out discussions with the migrant workers. We want to talk to them about how they were forgotten by the people they voted into power when they most needed their help. We want to make people see the futile nature of the politics which exploits the divides of caste and religion”, he says.
Gautam thinks of an election campaign as an opportunity to closely engage with common people. He feels disappointed with how politics of all hues has in recent times become transactional and overly strategic, with the capture of power being the sole objective. He believes that, “an election campaign should be a movement in itself, a means to engage with and mobilise people and to introduce them to new ideas. The politics of the Hindi-belt region has for the last 40 years been devoid of any sort of ideological struggle. The ideas and values of the great leaders and thinkers of our country, as well as this region, such as Gandhi, Ambedkar, Lohia, Bhagat Singh, Periyar Lalai Singh Yadav and Jagdev Prasad, can form the basis for social and political change, but no effort has been made to take these ideas to the common people.”
Gautam is convinced that socialism can be the solution to the many problems that beset the people of Bihar and that people would naturally gravitate towards such a system if they were able to envision it as a real possibility: “We believe that a turn towards socialism amongst the people is inevitable, but we have to ensure that we are able to reach out to them with our ideas in an effective and engaging way.”
by Surabhi Agarwal
