Bihar Assembly polls: CPI-ML stakes claim on 40 seats, tensions rise in Opposition Grand Alliance

Patna: With the Bihar Assembly elections several months away, the issue of seat-sharing has triggered fresh tensions in the Opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan).

After the Congress and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) pressed for a larger share of seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML) has now staked claim to 40 Assembly seats, intensifying the internal battle within the alliance.

CPI-ML Bihar State Secretary, Comrade Kunal, announced the demand during a press conference in Motihari on Monday.

He confirmed that the party has prepared a list of 40 constituencies it wants to contest.

He also said that the list was submitted to the coordination committee of the Mahagathbandhan.

He added that CPI-ML’s participation has strengthened the alliance in both the Lok Sabha and previous Assembly polls.

“Wherever our candidates have contested, both CPI-ML and the Grand Alliance have benefitted. Hence, we have formally staked claim on 40 seats in the Grand Alliance,” Comrade Kunal said.

The Mahagathbandhan, which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, CPI-ML, VIP, CPI and CPI-M, is already grappling with competing demands.

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, CPI-ML won 12 out of 19 seats it contested, emerging as the third largest party in the Grand Alliance.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, its candidates performed strongly in the Shahabad region, winning Ara and Karakat seats, further boosting its bargaining power.

The Grand Alliance leadership, particularly the RJD and Congress, now faces the challenge of balancing the seat distribution while preventing internal rifts.

The Congress, Mukesh Sahani’s VIP, and CPI-ML have each put forward ambitious demands, creating pressure on the RJD and its leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Congress has already declared its intention to contest on 70 seats, the same number of seats contested in the 2020 Assembly polls.

VIP Chief Sahani has demanded 60 seats, while also projecting himself as the Grand Alliance’s Deputy Chief Ministerial candidate from public platforms.

Congress contested 70 seats in the 2020 Assembly elections but managed to win only 19.

Mukesh Sahani’s VIP was part of the NDA then and contested for 11 seats. It had won only four Assembly seats.

IANS