Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya spoke to The Indian Express on the poll debacle in Bihar. Edited excerpts:
The result in Bihar was a huge setback for your party and the RJD-led alliance. What went wrong?
Obviously, it is a very unnatural result. This is absolutely unnatural and inexplicable. Because this is like 2010 all over again. It is really inexplicable how the government which has been in power for 20 years and which had such a narrow escape five years ago…and the Modi government, which also didn’t get a majority of its own a year ago…how can this combination…double engine…produce such a miracle in 2025. It doesn’t at all correspond to the ground reality of Bihar. But of course, it has happened. So you need to investigate, do a proper investigation from all angles. The SIR was, of course there, the money transfer which had taken place on an unprecedented scale, something like Rs 30,000 crore rupees for 3 crore beneficiaries in cash and kind…that was also unprecedented, without any parallel… So, that’s why we need to see what are the reasons for it.
The defeat was across regions..All the Mahagathbandhan parties suffered losses unlike last time when the Congress was the weak link…
There is nothing to make a distinction. So, for example, if we win only two, that is just 10%.
That is even worse than the RJD’s strike rate. RJD will be close to 20%. So, that’s why one can’t talk about that. The Congress winning 6 out of 60 is also like 10 per cent. So basically it’s a complete decimation. And any defamation of the opposition in a democracy is close to decimation of democracy.
After the Lok Sabha dip of the BJP…the party won Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi..Jharkhand was the only exception.
The difference between Maharashtra and Bihar is that in Maharashtra people woke up to it after it all happened. In Bihar, everything happened right in front of our eyes. The SIR and this money transfer…the same Maharashtra kind of scheme…So, we have to see, what exactly are the implications, what are the main lessons?
The bigger question is an existential crisis for the opposition. How do you counter the BJP which tries to appeal to people at many levels…Hindutva, nationalism, caste combination, cash transfer…
This is not a crisis of opposition. This is a crisis of democracy. I mean a democracy without an opposition is an oxymoron. That’s why I look at it as a crisis of democracy.. We have to see why it happened. Why just for the opposition… It is a crisis for the entire country. Just last year, the same BJP, it got only 240 seats in the Lok Sabha election. The NDA together as a coalition got less than 300 seats. And here where they have been in power for 20 years, they win. And what kind of a majority? This is close to 90% I guess. Or more than 80%. That’s why I say this is completely inexplicable. It doesn’t correspond to whatever you see on the ground. The lived experiences of the people, the political reality of Bihar, this is something inexplicable, something very, very unusual, unnatural. So, that’s why it needs a very thorough probe from all possible angles.
The SIR or ‘vote chori’ rhetoric clearly had no resonance on the ground.
SIR definitely had a resonance. How else do you explain this increase in vote percentage?
Now the thing is, the SIR has created many things, many emotions. SIR has given rise to anxiety, given rise to anger, given rise to fear. So people are also afraid…they want to save their vote. And if fear has been the key in emotion, you just don’t know. I think SIR being a non issue … that is not at all correct. It has definitely been instrumental in this whole outcome. You can’t
SIR is something superfluous…redundant… it is not. Definitely SIR played a big role…how exactly…what kind of role it has played and how that needs to be properly analysed.
You spoke about money transfer impacting the voting pattern. Is it as simple as that?
First of all, it is not just women. Because they distributed from Rs 10,000 to some 1.4 crore or 1.5 crore women. And that’s not all. They have distributed some Rs 30,000 crore rupees to a whole lot of beneficiaries. I think more than 3 crore beneficiaries. They have done something for every group. Every group has got something or the other. So, a government which was not delivering at all for the last five years…face flak for corruption and crime…on both counts this is a government which was found absolutely non performing. For such a government to pull off this kind of majority… It is a miracle, it’s a political mystery that needs to be properly analysed.
Was there a counter non-Yadav polarisation after the projection of Tejashwi Yadav as the CM face?
No. It has nothing to do with the projection of Tejashwi. He was projected last time, too. So, why is such a non Yadav polarisation suddenly. Yes Yadav and all this jungle Raj…all these things have some takers for it…But why suddenly. What was there in the 2024 Lok Sabha…I don’t think…I mean these are a kind of post facto analysis which will happen. We need to have a thorough analysis. The AIMIM has done well. Definitely, there has been no so-called consolidation of Muslim votes. So, the Muslim identity has also been a strong factor. It’s not just the EBCs…Muslims… basically all the identities.
What is the road ahead for the opposition now, not just in Bihar?
The road ahead is back to basics. In elections there will always be ups and downs. So, this is one of those downs that we need to overcome.
Is there a crisis of credibility for the opposition and lack of a narrative?
No. I don’t think so. It is the same opposition. It is the same Congress which got some 40 more seats. It is the same opposition which won 43 seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh last year. So, I don’t think that there is a lack of credibility. So, it’s just…maybe…one of those days when your worst fears come true. But that doesn’t mean that it is going to be fearful in future too.
