2024 LS polls: CPI-ML eyes five seats in Bihar

The CPI-ML(Liberation), which has a sizeable presence in Bihar, is eying at least five Lok Sabha seats of the total 40 in the state to fight in the next year’s general election and has conveyed its views to its old ally RJD, the largest constituent in the state’s ruling alliance, called the Mahagathbandhan.

CPI-ML(Liberation), according to its leaders, is keen to get seats in southern Bihar, especially Magadh and Bhojpur regions, as a show of “RJD-ML” unity to repeat its strike rate of the 2020 assembly polls when the party won 66% of its seats from this region alone.

In 2020 polls for the 243-member state assembly, the party had contested 19 seats in alliance with RJD and won 12.

“We met RJD chief Lalu Prasad, its state unit president Jagdanand Singh and also senior JD(U) and Congress leaders in the last few days and held discussions on seat sharing. We are clear that the RJD-ML unity messaging suits our voters. Also, we do not want to be allotted seats randomly since it would hamper our winning strike rate,” said a senior CPI-ML leader, who didn’t want to be named. “We have sought seats where we have a history of championing the cause of wage labourers, marginalised sections, farmers and trade unions,” he said.

“Seat sharing arrangement should be done as per current political situation. We have sent our proposal to RJD and apprised them about our stand. Our alliance with RJD predates that of their alliance with JD(U). Performance of parties in the 2019 parliamentary polls cannot be the sole criteria for seat sharing since we have a bigger agenda to defeat the BJP,” said CPI-ML(Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

The five seats the party is eying are Siwan, Ara, Karakat, Jehanabad and Patliputra. While Jehanabad and Siwan are currently with JD(U), RJD considers Patliputra and Siwan as its traditional seats.

In recent meetings of INDIA, the newly formed Opposition bloc to take on the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary elections, it has been decided that leading parties in states would first allot seats to their junior partners before deciding their own seats, according to leaders familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, leaders in the Mahagathbandhan said they are working on a formula of distributing seats among senior partners, mainly RJD and JD(U), in the ratio of 16:16 or 15:15 or 14:14 and divide rest of the seats among junior partners, including the Congress.

For the record, RJD’s state spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan said the seat sharing arrangement would done amicably among allies at an opportune time. “Talks are being held,” he said.