CPI (ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya (centre)
NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Sunday termed the Bihar assembly election outcome “abnormal,” claiming it was shaped by three “experiments.” According to him, these included the transfer of Rs 10,000 to women under the Mahila Rojgar Yojana, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and the transfer of land to a “corporate house” at a “throwaway price.”“The poll dates were not announced until all the targeted welfare schemes of the government, including the provision of Rs 10,000 for women, materialised. This is an unprecedented and unique experiment in India’s electoral history,” Bhattacharya told reporters in Patna, two days after the results were declared. The CPI(ML)L, a constituent of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan, won just two of the 20 seats it contested — a sharp fall from the 12 out of 19 it secured in 2020. Overall, the three Left parties in the alliance won only three of 33 seats this time, compared to 16 out of 29 in the previous election.Speaking on SIR, Bhattacharya said the deletion of 65 lakh voters and the later addition of 3.5–4 lakh names before the polls had a “significant impact” on the result. He added that the third issue — the land transfer — had been raised by the opposition but failed to resonate with the voters, cautioning that it would “normalise the corporatisation of Bihar’s resources.”“From November 18 to 24, our candidates and party workers will go among the people as part of a feedback and public outreach exercise. We need to stop these experiments; otherwise, there will be no level-playing field in politics,” the Left leader stated. The Bihar assembly elections were held on November 6 and 11, covering 121 and 122 constituencies respectively. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a sweeping victory, winning 202 of the 243 seats. The Mahagathbandhan managed just 35 seats. In 2020, the NDA and the opposition bloc had won 125 and 110 seats respectively.
