Combined Left takes a big hit, tally down from 16 to three
The combined Left, which also includes the CPI that could not open its electoral account this time, had 16 legislators in the outgoing Bihar Assembly — 11 of the CPI(M-L) and two each of the CPI and CPM.
Written by Jatin Anand
New Delhi | Updated: November 15, 2025 08:13 AM IST
3 min read
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A deserted view of the Bihar Congress office during the vote counting of the Bihar assembly election, in Patna on Friday. (ANI Photo)
From a shared seat tally of 16 in the 2020 Assembly elections down to just three this time, the combined Left could only muster less than one-fifth of its previous mandate in the Bihar Assembly on Friday.
While initial trends appeared to display a faint silver lining for it earlier during the day as it found itself sometimes surpassing and sometimes neck-to-neck with its larger, national ally, the Congress, in the number of seats that it was leading on, these finally settled on half of the grand old party’s total tally of six.
The combined Left, which also includes the CPI that could not open its electoral account this time, had 16 legislators in the outgoing Bihar Assembly — 11 of the CPI(M-L) and two each of the CPI and CPM.
The Left had recorded an increase of nine seats in the 2020 Assembly polls. The CPI(M-L) represented the Balrampur, Ziradei, Darauli, Phulwari, Agiaon, Dumraon, Karakat, Arwal, Ghosi segments; while the CPM held Manjhi and Bibhutipur, and the CPI had Teghra and Bakhri.
By Friday evening, however, the CPI(M-L) could only retain Karakat and added Paliganj to its account; the CPM was only able to retain Bibhutipur.
In an interview to The Indian Express, CPI(M-L) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya termed the final verdict “a very unnatural result” and questioning how the Nitish Kumar-led government which has been in power for 20 years and the Modi government at the Centre which could not muster a majority of its own a year ago “produce such a miracle in 2025”.
“We have to see why it happened. Why just for the opposition… It is a crisis for the entire country,” Bhattacharya said.
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Stopping short of accusing the NDA of stealing the Bihar Assembly polls, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M A Baby accused the BJP of having harnessed “all its manipulative ability” for its sweep of the state Assembly on Friday.
The former Lok Sabha MP, however, conceded that the results were enough cause for “sincere and candid introspection” both independently as well as together, flagging issues such as “friendly fights” in about a dozen seats.
“For the BJP and JDU, it was an existential election – in the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP lost its majority and they are relying on two crutches, the JDU and TDP. If they lost Bihar, one crutch would have gone and their countdown (out of power) would have begun,” Baby said.
“… they used Special Intensive Revision to intimidate voters, besides money and muscle power; a Rs 10,000 bribe to voters after the Model Code of Conduct was in force; all these together led to their victory,” he added.
Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism.
Expertise
High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including:
The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls.
National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus.
Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities.
National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements.
Academic Credentials:
Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions.
Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More
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