CPI, CPI(M), RJD join hands for Bihar assembly polls

NEW DELHI: The CPI and CPI (M) have agreed to join hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which heads the opposition alliance in Bihar, in a bid to stop division of anti-NDA votes in the upcoming assembly election in the state.

Another left party, CPI (ML), which also has a presence in Bihar, has separately initiated talks with the RJD for entering into an electoral pact.

The other members of the opposition alliance are the Congress, Rashtriya Loktantrik Samata Party (RLSP) and Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP).


“Our joint delegation of CPI and CPI (M) met the RJD’s state president Jagadanand on Wednesday at RJD’s office in Patna. We have decided to jointly contest the upcoming assembly polls with an aim to ensure the defeat of NDA in the state,” said Ram Naresh Pandey, CPI’s state secretary.

CPI (M)’s state secretary Awadhesh Kumar, who was also part of the delegation, said the idea is to put up a united face of the opposition parties against the NDA in all the 243 seats of the state. He said the parties hope to get a respectable share of seats under the electoral pact with the RJD-headed alliance.

Earlier, on Tuesday, a delegation of CPI (ML) separately met Jagadanand. “We hope that seat sharing arrangement will be given final shape at the earliest possible,” said CPI-ML’s state secretary Kunal.

While the CPI and CPI (M) could not win any seats in the 2015 assembly polls, CPI (ML) has three MLAs in the state assembly.

Jagadanand said the RJD is in favour of forming a united opposition against the NDA in Bihar. “We represent the poor people and thus, we are united in our fight against the NDA,” he said.