Left parties, particularly CPI(ML), flexed their muscles to extract maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha election to regain their electoral significance in Bihar. In the seat-sharing pact among, CPI(ML) got three seats while CPI and CPI(M) one seat each. Initially, CPI(M) was not even considered to be in the race but the party secured Khagaria. CPI managed to get the crucial Begusarai seat from where Congress wanted to field its firebrand leader Kanhaiya Kumar. After Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar's exit from the grand alliance, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav spotted a new opportunity in the Left parties so the alliance could put up an impressive show.
Lalu by promoting the Left parties also wants to move beyond his traditional MuslimYadav (MY) equation and make an attempt for transfer of a substantial number of votes mainly belonging to Left parties, compromising a large chunk of extremely backward castes (EBCs) and Dalits to his party and vice versa. “Lalu is making preparations for the 2025 state assembly election by doing the spadework in the Lok Sabha election itself,” remarked an RJD leader. With Congress’s dismal performance in the 2020 state assembly election, Lalu considered it better to bet on Left parties and started negotiating with its leaders for seat sharing. Before CPI general secretary D Raja announced his party candidate for Begusarai, he met RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
In 2020, the Congress could win only 19 of the total 70 assembly seats it contested. On the other hand, CPI(ML) won 12 of the total 19 seats it contested achieving a strike rate of 63 per cent, second only to the BJP’s 67 per cent. CPI and CPI(M) won two seats each. Lalu conceded nine seats to Congress in the esatern state only after the grand old party agreed to give Palamu and Chatra LS seats in Jharkhand, sources claimed. Although the Left parties suffered a jolt with the growth of caste-centric politics of regional parties like RJD, they continued to maintain their political significance due to their strong support base among a huge section of people cutting across caste lines, explained a political observer
