Bihar Assembly Election Results 2020: Left Marks Resurgence, Clocks Best Performance Since 1980; Is Kanhaiya Kumar The Key Factor?

Patna, November 10: The cliffhanger assembly elections in Bihar eventually witnessed a narrow-lane victory for the NDA, but one electoral group which has evidently marked its "resurgence" in state politics is the Left Front. After being reduced in single-digit for the last two decades, the coalition of Communist parties ended up winning 16 seats. Bihar Assembly Elections Results 2020: Modi Thanks Voters For Another NDA Term, Amit Shah Slams Opposition.

The Left parties emerged with the best strike rate within the Mahagathbandhan, winning 16 out of the 29 constituencies allocated. The performance, say analysts, is way more impressive than the Congress which secured only 19 seats out of the 71 contested.

The final results declared by the Election Commission showed the CPI(ML) winning 12 seats, whereas, the CPI(M) and the CPI bagged three seats each. In the 2015 elections, the CPI(ML) had won only 3 vidhan sabha segments, whereas, the CPI and CPI(M) had failed top open their accounts.

With the victory in 16 assembly constituencies, the Left Front ended up clocking their best performance in the last four decades. The coalition of Communist parties had won a similar number of seats in 1980, when the CPI had won 23 vidhan sabha seats.

Was Kanhaiya Kumar The Key Factor?

Former JNU Students' Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who left a mark in Bihar politics when he unsuccessfully challenged BJP veteran Giriraj Singh in the 2019 general elections, was a significant crowd puller in the assembly elections as well.

The 33-year-old worked closely with the State Politburo in formalising the CPI strategy, while also working in close coordination with the provincial leadership of the CPI and the CPI(ML). Reports claimed that Kanhaiya was flanked a team of young communists who were his comrades at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Comparisons were also made, ahead of the elections, between Kanhaiya and RJD's de-facto chief Tejashwi Yadav. The latter, however, emerged as a far more crucial player in the state politics. Kanhaiya failed to grab the headlines as he did during his 2019 bout against Giriraj Singh.

Moreover, pollsters have refrained from describing him as the key factor behind the Left performance in the Bihar assembly polls. The credit, according to some analysts, goes to a large extent to N N Sai Balaji, a youth leader of the CPI(ML).

Balaji, who has also headed the JNU Students' Union, is the chief of CPI(ML)'s students' wing All India Students' Association (AISA). He is credited for strategising the CPI(ML) campaign in the 19 seats that were allocated to the party within the Left's share. The results showed that the CPI(ML) won with a 59 percent strike rate, winning 12 out of the 19 seats it contested.

What Worked For the Left Front?

The Left parties, particularly the CPI(ML) which has been active in Bhojpur region, has led the movement of workers seeking regularisation of jobs, ASHA workers demanding pay hike and students seeking government jobs. The CPI and CPI(M) still continue to hold the cadre-strength among Bihar's farmers to lead the protest on agrarian issues.

The agrarian distress and lack of jobs -- which were the centre of Mahagathbandhan's campaign in the Bihar assembly elections -- coincided with the Left's agenda of economic justice. When this poll plank turned into the primary theme of elections - as indicated in the exit polls - the Left was bound to succeed vis-a-vis their earlier standing, analysts noted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 11, 2020 04:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).