Bihar Assembly Polls: Mahagathbandhan Suffers Setback as NDA Retains Power

The Left parties have labelled the Mahagathbandhan's defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections a significant setback, highlighting the NDA's dominance and the need for united opposition efforts.

The recent Bihar Assembly elections resulted in a significant defeat for the Mahagathbandhan, with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) retaining power. This outcome highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continued popularity and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's enduring appeal. The NDA's victory was substantial, with its main parties, BJP and JDU, achieving an over 85% success rate in the seats they contested.

CPIM General Secretary M A Baby expressed surprise at the results, noting that they were unexpected. He emphasised that the opposition alliance must work more cohesively. "Our assessment was that with the massive campaign we had carried out on misuse of the Election Commission, the unemployment situation in Bihar, and the lack of democratic governance, we were expecting a victory for the Mahagatbandhan. But now there is a real setback for the alliance," he stated.

Opposition's Need for Unity

Baby accused the NDA of manipulating state machinery and using significant financial resources to secure their win. He stressed that defeating the BJP requires a more united effort from opposition parties. The CPIM plans to examine other factors contributing to these results in detail.

Reports indicated that friendly contests among Mahagathbandhan parties in about a dozen constituencies sent mixed signals to voters. CPIM General Secretary M A Baby highlighted this issue, suggesting it may have contributed to their defeat.

CPI General Secretary D Raja called for introspection within the INDIA bloc, noting large crowds at campaign events. "INDIA bloc parties should do serious introspection on what happened. Because what we witnessed during the campaign was a different scene. People were gathering in all campaign meetings of the Mahagathbandhan," he said.

Seat Sharing Concerns

Raja pointed out that seat sharing issues need addressing, as not all parties were adequately accommodated. He questioned why the INDIA bloc consistently loses electoral battles and suggested lessons could be learned from past experiences in Haryana and Maharashtra.

CPIMLL General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya described the election results as unnatural, citing discrepancies in voter figures provided by the Election Commission after special intensive revision (SIR). He mentioned a massive money transfer operation worth Rs 30,000 crore among three crore beneficiaries, which he believes violated election ethics.

Bhattacharya also noted that despite low credibility for Nitish Kumar's government and declining support for Modi's government last year, the results mirrored those of 2010. "The results are absolutely unnatural," he remarked.

Performance Analysis

The CPIMLL contested 20 seats as part of the Mahagathbandhan alliance, winning two—Paliganj and Karakat—and narrowly losing Agiaon by 95 votes. In three other constituencies—Balrampur, Dumraon, and Zeeradei—the margin of defeat was under 3,000 votes.

The CPIMLL secured around 2.84% of votes according to ECI data, down from 3.16% in 2020. The CPIM won only Bibhutipur among four contested seats, while CPI failed to win any seats it contested.

The CPIM received 0.60% of votes this time compared to 0.65% in 2020, while CPI garnered about 0.74%, down from 0.83%. In contrast, during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, CPIM-L won two seats—Ara and Karakat—out of Bihar's total 40 Lok Sabha seats.

With inputs from PTI