CPI(ML)L aims to contest 40-45 seats with diverse group of candidates

New Delhi: Seeking to almost double the seats it contested five years ago in Bihar, the CPI(ML)L is planning to choose candidates this time from a diverse pool that includes scheme workers, farmers, women, Dalits and youth with educational excellence like former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Dhananjay Kumar.

The Left party has already made it clear that it aims to contest 40-45 seats where it has “already started solid ground work”, as part of the RJD-led ‘Maha Gadbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) in the Assembly election later this year.

The CPI(ML)L is the third largest party in alliance after RJD and Congress.

In the 2020 elections, the CPI(ML)L had won 12 out of 19 seats and its strike of 63.15 per cent in comparison with Congress’ 27.14 per cent (19 out of 70), leading to conversations that the Left party should have been given more seats instead of the grand old party, which won less seats five years ago.

In 2015, CPI(ML)L had contested alone, winning three out of 98 seats with a strike rate of 3.06 per cent.

CPI(ML)L General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told DH that the ‘Maha Gadbandhan’ has initiated seat sharing discussions. He said the CPI(ML) would like to contest 40-45 seats.

While the party has not finalised any candidate, sources said they were looking at a candidate list with “greater social diversity” this time, as the party plans to field “more women and Dalits” besides farmers and educated youth.

“In the 2020 polls, we cannot look at the diversity aspect in detail as the number of seats allotted to us was very less. We could field only one woman then. This time, we plan to have more women and more Dalits. We also plan to give representation to more subcastes,” a senior leader said.

The party is also looking at young educated people from prestigious universities like the JNU to contest elections. “Former JNUSU president Dhananjay Kumar is one such possible candidate. No names have been finalised. But candidates like him can play a role in managing Bihar’s future,” the leader said. Kumar, who is from Gaya, belongs to a Dalit community.

The party is also looking at the possibility of fielding scheme workers, as the party has some following among them. A senior leader said the party has been active among scheme workers and has a considerable following. “Bihar pays a mid-day meal worker Rs 1,650 a month, which is the lowest in India. We party fights for their rights,” the leader said.

The CPI(ML)L will also field candidates from among farmers, as it campaigns that Nitish Kumar government was the first to disband the Agricultural Produce Market Committee. They are also victims of improper implementation of land acquisition law, the leader alleged.