A surprise element in the Bihar Assembly elections this time has been the ability of the Left parties, especially the CPI(ML), to emerge as a sizeable bloc, looking set to win around 17 seats, their best ever performance in two decades.
In what was described as a politically pragmatic move, the RJD had this time reached out to the Left parties to form an alliance for the state elections. The Left parties had a share of 29 seats in the Mahagathbandhan, out of which the CPI(ML) contested 19, the CPI six and the CPM four.
As per the trends available on the Election Commission's website at 3:45pm, the Left parties together were leading in 17 seats. The CPI(ML) was ahead in 12 seats, the CPI(M) in three and the CPI was leading in two seats.
The CPI(ML), whose area of influence has been known to be the Bhojpur region, was given seats in other areas too, such as Katihar, Siwan, Arwal, rural Patna and Jehanabad.
The party had won six seats in the Assembly elections in 2000, and seven in 2005. In 2010, it failed to open its account.
The RJD and the CPI(ML) had prior to this election adopted an adversarial stance. Critics of RJD's Tejashwi Yadav even said that he had not supported CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 because he felt threated by the latter's crowd-pulling ability.
The inclusion of the Left parties was seen as a move to fill the gap created by the exit of the JD(U) earlier, and closer to the elections, the departure of parties such as the Hindustani Awami Morcha of Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Khushwaha. The entry of the Left into the opposition front was aimed at reaching out to the most backward classes and the extremely backward classes.
The Left parties also claimed that the agenda of the Mahagathbandhan, as put forth in its manifesto, had a clear imprint of the Left, with issues of concern to the working class, the farmers and the unemployed youth being given top priority. It was also pointed out that the rallies of Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI(ML) and Kanhaiya Kumar of the CPI had received a good response.
In the Assembly elections in 2015, the CPI(ML) had won three seats, while the CPI and the CPI(M) had drawn a blank.
