RJD, Congress should be realistic on Bihar seat sharing with allies: CPI (ML) chief Dipankar Bhattacharya

Dipankar Bhattacharya, the general secretary of CPI(M-L), the Bihar Opposition ally that is seeking a larger number of seats this time by citing the party's impressive strike rate in the 2020 assembly polls, said the RJD and Congress should be realistic to accommodate allies by contesting lesser number of seats this time.

Talking to ET, Bhattacharya said it's high time the Opposition front finalises its seat-sharing formula as nominations have already opened for the Bihar elections. The ruling NDA allies inked their seat-sharing pact on Sunday.

"Nominations have already opened in Bihar and it's high time the Opposition alliance finalises their seat-sharing agreement and declare their candidates," Bhattacharya said as RJD and Congress leaders continue to negotiate the seats.

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"The RJD and Congress leadership should be realistic by contesting a lesser number of seats this time to accommodate allies to reinforce the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) against NDA," he said. This comes when the RJD, which contested in 144 seats and the Congress in 70 in the 2020 elections, have come under pressure from CPI-ML and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) for a larger share this time. Citing the CPI (ML) winning 12 of the 19 seats it fought last time, Bhattacharya justified his party seeking more seats now by pointing to its electoral and social credibility.

The CPI-ML campers buttressed its demand for more seats by saying not only did the party win 12 seats last time, it also "effectively transferred" its votes to allies in many other seats.

Hoping for an early and amicable solution to the opposition seat-sharing negotiations, Bhattacharya said the entry of new allies was also a factor that caused the delay in negotiations. "The Opposition alliance, which was essentially a five-party front in 2020 with RJD, Congress, CPI-ML, CPI and CPI-M, is now being expanded with the entry of VIP, RLJP and perhaps JMM. That has added to the task of seat-sharing talks. Time is running out and we should immediately ink the seat-sharing and announce the candidates".