PATNA: CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Thursday dismissed speculation that the delay in finalising seat-sharing arrangements and candidate lists for the Bihar Assembly elections indicated discord within the INDIA bloc. He asserted that the delay was instead reflective of the coalition’s growing strength and expanding base.
“The inordinate delay in announcing the seat-sharing formula and candidates is because the alliance is growing larger, not because it is disintegrating,” Bhattacharya said. Friday marks the last day for filing nominations for the first phase of the polls.
The elections to Bihar’s 243-member assembly will take place in two phases, on November 6 and 11, with vote counting scheduled for November 14. Leaders of the INDIA bloc, which includes the RJD, Congress, Left parties, and others, have been in prolonged discussions over seat allocation as they prepare to challenge the BJP-led NDA.
Bhattacharya’s comments come amid concerns within the alliance over delayed coordination and local-level disagreements, though he maintained that such negotiations were natural in a large coalition representing diverse political interests.
In a separate interaction, Bhattacharya also commented on the rise of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, claiming that it enjoys greater popularity among migrant workers from Bihar living in other states than among residents within the state itself.
“The Jan Suraaj Party has created a buzz mainly among migrant workers from Bihar living in places like Delhi, where they had once trusted Arvind Kejriwal and now see in Prashant Kishor a similar promise,” Bhattacharya said. He added that while Kishor had generated curiosity with his political experiment, he did not view the Jan Suraaj Party as a “threat to democracy like the BJP.”
Bhattacharya’s remarks reflect the Left’s confidence in the INDIA bloc’s cohesion even as it faces mounting pressure to present a united front before the crucial Bihar polls.
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