Patna: The Left party MLAs held a protest outside the Bihar Assembly here on Monday morning on various issues ahead of the budget presentation.
CPI-ML, CPI, and CPM legislators staged demonstrations outside the Assembly, demanding justice for Rohtas’ daughter Sneha Kushwaha.
Sneha Kushwaha, a 17-year-old student from Sasaram, who was preparing for medical exams while staying in a hostel in Varanasi, died under suspicious circumstances last month.
The Varanasi police have called it a case of suicide, while the victim’s family claims that their daughter has been murdered.
The Left parties also demonstrated for inclusion of 65 per cent reservation in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution. They have been pushing for 65 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, urging the government to secure its inclusion in the 9th Schedule to protect it from legal challenges.
They also held protests against prepaid smart electricity meters. They accused the government of harassing the poor and middle-class citizens through prepaid smart meters, calling for free electricity for the underprivileged. Left parties MLAs claimed that the electricity department was penalizing the poor unjustly and demanded an immediate halt to such practices.
As Bihar is heading towards the assembly election later this year, this budget is expected to be historic. This year’s Bihar budget is expected to cross Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time.
Opposition parties say that the government has ignored their demands in the budget, due to which the problems of the public are being ignored.
CM Nitish Kumar, upon reaching the assembly, gave a brief reaction to media persons after he was asked to react on today’s budget. He said, “Yes, the budget is fine, everything is fine” before proceeding inside the assembly.
This is the last budget before the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar. The state government is likely to focus on key voter groups: women, farmers, and youth, and is expected to include special schemes targeting rural areas, the unemployed, and the economically weaker sections.
(IANS)
