United Left to critique Nitish Kumar: CPI(ML)

NEW DELHI: CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya says election results in Bihar is not an endorsement of policies of the Nitish Kumar government. The election, he says, was fought in the national context where alliance became the primary vehicle.

“No way it means that Nitish Kumar has done right things,“ he said, adding that in the coming months a united left will hold the “new government accountable, critique them and bring them to task“. Bhattacharya is happy with the outcome of the united Left fighting Bihar elections. Though only his party could win three seats, Bhattacharya said, “Coming together of Left parties has given people hope. Earlier, left supporters were confused with CPI and CPM going to the other side.“ Bhattacharya says his party should have won Ziradei and Agiaon seats also, but it could not happen as the candidates Amarjit Kushwaha and Manoj Manzil were in jail on “trumped up charges“. Even in Darauli where the party won, the candidate Satyadeo Ram is in jail. “They have all been framed,“ he said. For Bhattacharya, win in Tarari was the sweetest. “It is where our movement started and also from where Ranvir Sena began,“ he said. The party also won in Balrampur.

With barely six months for the three Left parties working together, Bhattacharya said they would have done better. “A big rally would have helped build the momentum,“ he said, adding that the joint cadre convention went off well. However, he is not confident of if the Left parties don't go together in West Bengal in next year's assembly elections. “One has to be self-critical. I hear nothing from CPM on Singur and Nandigram,“ he said.