With clarity still awaited on the Mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing formula for the coming Bihar Assembly polls, as the clock winds down to two days to go for the final withdrawal of nominations, CPI (M-L) Liberation’s general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya speaks to The Indian Express about the confusion, politics of doles, and the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission. Excerpts:
Yes, and it is a bigger coalition this time with the inclusion of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and I P Gupta’s Indian Inclusive Party. There have been some hiccups but we have navigated them well and they will be settled soon. There could be a joint press conference of all (Mahagathbandhan) allies in the next couple of days. Ahead of the 2020 polls, the coalition was formed at the last minute, there had been no talks with the Congress. But this time, it (the Mahagathbandhan) is a structured unit. There were several rounds of discussions.
However, what is happening at the top is not important. The situation on the ground shows that people want the Mahagathbandhan to be the vehicle of change. Bihar is a large state and there are seven parties in the Mahagathbandhan. So, it is natural to have some problems. However, nominations may be withdrawn in some seats which have two Mahagathbandhan candidates.
* Are you happy with the 20 seats that you have got, given that it is only one more than the number of seats you contested in 2020?
We had two options: demand more seats or move on. We decided to move on. While we have fielded all our 11 sitting MLAs, we have some very good new candidates. For instance, former president of the Patna University Students’ Union Divya Gautam is our nominee from Digha. Similarly, former JNUSU president Dhananjay will contest from Bhore. We have fielded Vishwanath Choudhary, who had been associated with the tribal and Dalit movement from Rajgir, while key Nitish Kumar aide Anil Kumar is our candidate from Pipra.
* The Mahagathbandhan rode on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s 10 lakh job promise but narrowly fell short in 2020. What are you telling voters this time?
Bihar is in a state of transition in terms of generational shift of leaders from the times of the quartet of (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar, (Lok Janshakti Party founder) Ram Vilas Paswan and (BJP leader) Sushil Kumar Modi. While Paswan and Modi are no more, Nitish and Lalu are in the sunset of their lives. When Lalu became CM in 1990, he tried to bring power to the people and become the voice of the poor by talking about social justice and secularism. When Nitish took over in 2005, he spoke of development with justice. People gave him chances election after election but he created the “flyover and bypass” model of development.
Nitish promised people that he would not compromise with crime, corruption and communalism (triple C), he ended up serving Bihar a cocktail of the same. He did not talk about jobs. As the Bihar caste survey showed that 94 lakh families had a monthly income below Rs 6,000, Nitish should have spoken about development with jobs. Instead, Bihar has become a factory of cheap labour with Nitish as the manager.
People had put him on notice in 2020, which is why the Mahagathbandhan came so close to forming the government then.
* Is the NDA government’s spree of poll promises an attempt to retain its voter base while facing anti-incumbency?
Obviously. Nitish is just looking to retain his support base through doles like 125 MW of free power and Rs 10,000 each to 1.21 crore prospective women entrepreneurs. However, the NDA is not clear on what the assistance is.
The people of Bihar have been trapped by micro-financing companies and several people have fled the state due to the fear of coercive loan repayment. This is a new kind of migration. Under these circumstances, we are offering a sustainable monthly support of Rs 2,500 to each woman and also a monthly social security pension of Rs 1,500 with a provision to hike it by Rs 200 annually.
* Do you think Tejashwi’s offer of one government job for every family that doesn’t have one, working out to around 2.5 crore families, is feasible?
We have not seen his blueprint, but he is probably looking at large-scale government construction work. There could be more jobs created if the government offers universal education and healthcare. We may soon release a common manifesto with a definite and workable blueprint on the issue.
* The Opposition’s questions regarding the SIR have been countered by the government, which has accused it of backing ‘ghuspaithiya (infiltrators)’. Do you think this narrative will work?
The Election Commission (EC) never spoke of infiltrators. Not a single infiltrator was identified during the SIR. It is just a forced political narrative (of the BJP) that will not work. However, we will surely talk about how the SIR went on to exclude a chunk of women, Muslim and migrant voters from the electoral rolls. We will also seek credit for making the EC consider Aadhaar as a valid document, making the poll panel release a list of deleted voters and relax submission norms.
* How do you see the Jan Suraaj of Prashant Kishor?
Unlike what social media would want people to believe, I do not consider Kishor the biggest influencer. He has created a buzz, especially among migrants, given his resource base and media presence. People are curious to see if he can pull off an Arvind Kejriwal in Bihar. But within the state, his influence is limited.
He understands politics, but I do not agree with his thought that revolution is not necessary… I also object to the term ‘andolanjeevi (revolutionary)’, once used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It shows disdain for all kinds of struggle.
Secondly, politics in Bihar is labour-intensive, while Kishor’s project is capital-intensive. His corporate style of politics may not match the socio-political reality of Bihar.
* Is Tejashwi the Mahagathbandhan’s CM face?
Definitely. He has been Deputy CM twice in the past and is the leader of the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan. We contested the 2020 polls under his leadership. In fact, the NDA must answer if Nitish is its CM face.
* Who, according to you, are Bihar’s top three second-generation leaders?
Tejashwi, (LJP-RV) chief Chirag Paswan, and Kishor. While no one from the JD(U) and BJP makes the cut, we can count young leaders from the CPI (M-L) Liberation such as Sandeep Saurabh, Dhananjay, and Gautam.
CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya says RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is the Mahagathbandhan's CM face. (Express photo by Rahul Sharma) 
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