The CPI(ML) Liberation has criticised the ruling BJP in Bihar for going ahead with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday celebrations while large parts of the state are under water. The party called the programmes "insensitive" at a time when floods have hit nearly 50 lakh people across 15 districts.
The criticism came in a statement from CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Kunal. He named two programmes in particular — 'Ashirwad ka Diya' and 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' — and said they showed a lack of sensitivity on the part of the ruling party.
What the BJP Events Involve
The BJP's 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' began on 17 September. As part of this campaign, the party organised statewide lamp-lighting under the 'Ashirwad ka Diya' programme.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary was scheduled to take part in the lamp-lighting event in Patna. The events were planned around Prime Minister Modi's birthday.
Why the Criticism Landed Hard
The timing is the core of the dispute. The floods in Bihar have affected nearly 50 lakh people and spread across 15 districts. Relief operations have been stepped up, but the scale of the disaster is large.
In that situation, the opposition's argument is simple — when lakhs of people are displaced and struggling, birthday celebrations and lamp-lighting programmes in the capital send the wrong message. The CPI(ML) Liberation statement used the word "insensitive" directly, and that word is doing the work here.
To put it plainly, this is not just a political spat. It is a question of what a government's priorities look like to people who are actually suffering. A party can argue that its programmes are about service and prayer. But when the same party is in power in the state, and the state is flooded, the public will judge it by what it does first — relief or celebration.
Our Take: Timing Matters in Politics
In our view, the BJP's defence of these programmes is weak on optics, even if the party insists the events are about seva and ashirwad. When nearly 50 lakh people are affected by floods in 15 districts, the visual of lamp-lighting in Patna does not sit well with the visual of submerged homes elsewhere.
This does not mean birthday programmes are banned during disasters. But political parties must read the room. The opposition has found an easy line of attack, and the BJP has handed it over by not postponing or scaling down the Patna event.
For readers, the takeaway is this — watch what the state government does next on flood relief. That will matter far more than any lamp-lighting ceremony. The criticism from CPI(ML) Liberation is a political point, but the underlying question it raises is fair: in a flood-hit state, what should come first?
