While the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation believes that along with CPI and CPI-M, it has brought about a re-emergence of Left politics in Bihar as per Assembly polls result trends, it claims that the Mahagathbandhan could have fared better had the Left parties been allotted more seats.
"Though I believe that the current numbers will change and the Mahagathbandhan will eventually form the government in Bihar, its performance could have been far better if more seats were allocated to the Left parties. We will sit and work on the numbers later," CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told .
The Left parties contested 29 seats in the Bihar Assembly polls. So far, they are collectively ahead in 18 seats. That is a strike rate of above 62 per cent.
The elections have seen a re-emergence of the Left, if trends are anything to go by, he said.
According to Bhattacharya, it will have a bearing on not just other states, but also at the national level.
The CPI-ML is leading in an impressive 12 seats while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India are leading in 3 seats each. To put things into perspective, the CPI-ML got only 3 seats in the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections, while the other 2 Left parties drew a blank.
CPI's General Secretary D. Raja too sounded upbeat about its ramification. "This will not just have a bearing in the West Bengal assembly elections next year, but also at the national level. Be it the farmers or labour issues, they will find more resonance going forward," Raja told .
What helped the Left, which was thrown to the margins, find its ground back in Bihar this time? Bhattacharya pointed at the overwhelming anti-incumbency against Nitish Kumar as a decisive factor coupled with the Left actively engaging the youth.
"Why else do you think issues like jobs came to the forefront? These are typical Leftist electoral issues and we gave voice to the disenchantment of the youth," he added.
Whether the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan or the BJP-led NDA will form a government in Bihar is yet to be known, but the Left getting back on its feet, at least as far as the trends go, has been an unpredictable takeaway from this assembly elections.
After years of being in the cold, since its exit from UPA-1, the Left sees hope amid existential crisis.
( With inputs from IANS )
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