THE nail biting finish of Bihar election result in favor of the NDA raises many questions regarding the fairness of counting of votes as the last tranche of votes were being counted. The results were poised for either way, at least in 10 seats which had slender leads were managed in favour of the NDA. When the issue was raised by Mahagathbandhan allies with the election commission it denied any wrong doing on its part and brushed aside the objections.

The result came as a shock for all those secular and democratic forces who were keenly watching the election during the Corona pandemic and were quite hopeful of the defeat of the NDA in the background of all round failure of BJP-JD(U) combine. The abysmal failure did not just pertain to governing the state but also delivering the poor and the needy in the hour of natural calamity and Covid-19 pandemic.

Initially all the projections regarding Bihar election were in favour of NDA. They pushed forward the narrative of so call development trajectory initiated by Nitish Kumar but this whole narrative was exposed by the reports published by Niti Ayog and NCRB. Bihar was found the worst performer on every social and economic index. Dismal performance particularly on agricultural, educational, health fronts and the inhuman treatment meted out to the flood marooned people during devastating floods and the home bound workers, during lockdown made the going tough for the NDA in Bihar.

The general people were seething with anger which led to the formidable formation of opposition secular forces led by RJD along with the Left to meet the challenges posed by communal opportunist alliance of NDA. Mahagathbandhan, with chief ministerial face of young Tejaswi Yadav changed the narrative of the election campaign by raising the issues of employment, education, health, food security and the growing atrocities against women, dalits and other vulnerable sections of the society, The promise of 10 lakh jobs caught the attention of youths across the caste lines. This is a significant development considering the recent election being fought on communal and emotive issues. But after the grueling electioneering by Tejaswi Yadav and its allies particularly the Left what went wrong which led to the defeat of Mahagathbandhan? Political analysts of different hues have started debating and already many articles have been published in different news papers.

First thing about this election can be safely said that it was a closely contested election with a common desire for change. On the surface level the caste affiliation had receded in the background but it did play a role at the grass root level in mobilising the people for and against the two competing combinations.

A good thing about Mahagathbandhan was the complete understanding among its constituents that also reflected during electioneering. But the Achilles Heel was the Congress party which got a huge share of 70 seats and won only 19 where as the Left won 16 out of 29 seats it contested. Congress has no organisational structure in Bihar now. During election campaign, the Congress party was heavily dependent on RJD and Left cadres to man their booths and bring the voters to the polling stations.

The worst performance of the Congress party is solely responsible for the victory of NDA combination.

The Left played a crucial role which can be seen in the content of manifestoes published by RJD and even the Congress party. All the issues on which the Left parties have been carrying on struggles got prominent place in these manifestoes.

This created a situation where BJP and JD(U) were forced to speak on these issues. But in the last leg of electioneering, when the NDA combination was staring at the defeat, the star campaigner, prime minister Narendra Modi himself invoked his time tested communal agenda to polarise the masses in bordering West Bengal areas of Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Purnea with large Muslim population. AIMM ably helped the BJP in polarising the masses on the communal lines and benefitted with five seats, damaging the prospects of Mahagathbandhan to form the government.

There are other social factors that should also be taken into account to fight the BJP and its politics in Bihar. Still the majority of the most backward and dalit communities are under the influence of JD(U) and BJP and other caste based outfits. Only the Left parties were able to bring this section towards Mahagathbandhan where they have their organisational presence.

Now it is almost certain that NDA will once more form the government in Bihar and Nitish Kumar will do everything to remain as chief minister.

With a strong contingent of 16 members in the assembly, Left parties will have to raise all those pro-people issues raised during election and mobilise the masses outside to force the NDA government to work in the interest of the masses or face the music.

The Left parties should play the leading role in mobilising the secular and democratic forces around the alternative pro-people policies unleashing mass and class movements in the coming years and defeat communal and pro-corporate policies of BJP and its allies.

PERFORMANCE OF CPI(M)
The CPI(M) got two seats out of four candidates it fielded. CPI(M) defeated JD(U) and an independent candidate in the constituencies of Bibhutipur and Manjhi with huge margins. It lost two seats of Matihani and Pipra with slender margins.

Votes obtained by CPI (M) candidates
Constituency Name                              Candidate EVM Votes                            Postal Votes                          Total Votes                           % of Votes

Manjhi Dr.Satyendra Yadav                               58863                                                   461                                     59324                                  37.56
Bibhutipur Ajay Kumar                                      73580                                                   242                                     73822                                  45.00
Matihani Rajendra Prasad Singh                        59875                                                  724                                     60599                                  29.27
Pipra Raj Mangal Prasad                                    79753                                                  657                                     80410                                   40.10

Dr Satyendra Yadav got elected with a margin of 25,386 votes and Ajay Kumar with a margin of 40,456 votes