PATNA: The Communist Party of India (CPI), an ally of the Opposition INDIA bloc, has staked its claim to 24 seats for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, due to be held in October–November this year.
Speaking to the media on the concluding day of a two-day state council meeting, attended by the party’s general secretary D. Raja, CPI state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey said the party had submitted a list of 24 seats to the coordination committee of the INDIA bloc.
The coordination committee is headed by RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Pandey said, “The coordination committee chairman had asked constituents of the INDIA bloc to submit a list of the seats that they wanted to contest in the coming elections. CPI also submitted its list of 24 seats.”
In response to a media query, D. Raja said that the party hoped a reasonable number of seats would be allotted to the CPI, which has its presence in all the 38 districts of Bihar. He, however, said the CPI was allotted only six seats, which he claimed “was not fair” in view of the party’s presence in almost every assembly constituency in the state.
Raja added that negotiations among the allies of the INDIA bloc had already begun, and that all parties would be given a reasonable number of seats by accommodating each other’s viewpoints. “Seat sharing is a very important and difficult issue. We urge all allies of the INDIA bloc to accommodate each other. Everybody must get a reasonable number of seats and fight unitedly so that the present government in Bihar is changed,” he remarked.
The CPI general secretary also announced that the party has decided to hold its 25th convention in Patna from September 8 to 12. On the first day of the state convention, a rally named ‘Badlo Sarkar, Bachao Bihar’ will be organised, aimed at dethroning the BJP-JD(U) government. The rally will be attended by top leaders of the party.
“At the proposed rally, we will appeal to people to vehemently oppose BJP-JD(U)’s government’s anti-people policies,” he remarked.
Raja said the state council, during its two-day meeting, expressed deep concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the election-bound state. “The meeting passed a special resolution, asking party workers to focus on the people’s security and raise the issue on all fronts,” he asserted.
The CPI general secretary also said that MPs of his party would raise the issue of Bihar’s Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise in Parliament and would press for its withdrawal. They would also demand the restoration of full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
RJD, Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI, CPM, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani are part of the INDIA bloc in Bihar. Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), led by former minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, is also likely to join the Opposition alliance ahead of the assembly elections.