Left flies high in Bihar Assembly election 2020

Both fought together but the Bihar election story is different for the Congress and the Left -- the former further shrunk in the state while the latter translated its years of groundwork to an emphatic victory riding on the strength of a coalition.

Congress fought in 70 seats this time but could romp home in just 19 seats as against its performance of 27 victories out of 41 seats in 2015 elections as part of the RJD-led alliance.

On the other hand, the CPI(ML)L, CPI and CPI(M) was winning or were ahead in at least 16 of the 29 seats -- at a strike rate of 55.17% -- it contested this time along with the Grand Alliance. In the 2015 polls, the Left parties could not forge an alliance with the Grand Alliance, which swept to power before being pulled down after Nitish Kumar's JD(U) walked out.

Track live updates on the Bihar elections here

This time, CPI(ML)L won nine and were ahead in three out of the 19 seats it contested while CPI(M) won two out of four it fought, according to the Election Commission data at the time of writing the report. The CPI, which is considered the largest Left in the state after CPI(ML)L, won three out of the six seats it contested.

Contrast this to 2015 -- six Left parties CPI(ML)L, CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc, SUCI(C) and RSP contested in over 200 seats together but only CPI(ML)L managed to win three seats. The CPI had then lost its sitting seat.

Bihar polls: Track constituency-wise live updates

It came as a surprise in political circles after the coalition leader RJD gave 29 seats to the Left, with several wondering whether it could go in vain.

However, the Left managed to win most of the seats it contested with its leaders attributing the success to its grass-root works and raising socio-economic agenda in the polls.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the election has shown that no one can write off the Left and those doubting the relevance of the Left parties should think of what their strike rate has been in Bihar.

10 key takeaways from Bihar Election results 2020

"Our strike rate in Bihar is very high and if we had been given more seats, we would have contributed more to the Grand Alliance tally. Our alliance with the RJD and Congress combined issues of social justice with that of economic justice. One cannot be achieved without the other. No one has that strike rate. The Left is a necessity for Indian democracy," Yechury said.

"This was a different kind of election. This was more a people's movement. We banked on young candidates, student leaders, candidates who were part of farmer struggles, working-class people. That seems to have worked," CPI(ML)L General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said.

CPI General Secretary D Raja said that the cadre base of the Left parties have helped the Grand Alliance.

The leaders are of the view that people are receptive to their positive agenda that raised "people's issues" and not the "divisive ones" raised by the BJP.

Meanwhile, the CPI(ML)L has approached the Election Commission seeking a recount of votes in Bhorey, Arrah and Daraundha Assembly constituencies where it said that its candidates have been shown to be defeated by very narrow margins, following "some worrying violations" of counting norms.

"In Bhorey, the JDU candidate Sunil Kumar is a former Additional DGP and therefore commands a lot of clout in the administration. The local JDU MP Alok Kumar Suman was seen entering the counting hall – which is illegal and prohibited. This was clearly an attempt to influence the fair count of votes. As of now, the ECI site shows Sunil Kumar at 73550 votes and CPIML’s Jitendra Paswan at 72524 votes. We seek your urgent intervention to ensure a recount of votes in this constituency," CPI(ML)L Polit Bureau member Kavita Krishnan said.

"Likewise, we also seek a recount of votes on the Arrah and Daraundha constituencies where there are reports of discrepancies between VVPAT and EVM counts, and other irregularities also," she said in the letter.