'Abnormal' Bihar poll outcome result of 3 'experiments', claims Dipankar Bhattacharya

The opposition CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Sunday claimed that the outcome of the Bihar Assembly elections is "abnormal" and it was the result of three "experiments".

The experiments, according to him, are the transfer of Rs 10,000 to women as the first instalment of Mahila Rojgar Yojana, deletion and addition of names in the SIR exercise, and transfer of land at a throwaway price to a corporate house.

The opposition party, a constituent of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, has won just two seats out of the 20 it contested, which is much lower than the 12 out of 19 seats that went into its kitty in the 2020 polls.

"The poll dates were not announced till all the targeted welfare schemes of the government, including the provision of Rs 10,000 for women, materialised. This is an unprecedented and unique experiment in India's electoral history," Bhattacharya claimed while talking to reporters.

The CPI(ML)L leader asserted that the deletion of 65 lakh votes through SIR and the addition of 3.5-4 lakh votes at a later stage ahead of the polls impacted the outcome. The SIR, he claimed, was the "second big experiment in the laboratory of Bihar."

Bhattacharya dubbed the transfer of a piece of land "at a throwaway price" to a corporate house as the third experiment.

This issue, which is likely to "normalise corporatisation of Bihar's resources", was raised by the opposition but did not have any effect on the people, the Left leader said.

These "three experiments", he said, may decide the course and agenda of Indian politics in the times to come.

Asserting that the election results are "abnormal, beyond our hopes and comprehension," he said that the party and the alliance will mull over this aspect to decide the future course of action.

"From November 18 to 24, our candidates and party workers will go among the people as part of a feedback and public relations exercise," he said, adding: "We need to stop these experiments; otherwise, there will be no level-playing field in politics".

Drawing a comparison with the 2010 Bihar elections when the NDA had registered a similar victory, Bhattacharya said, "(Then) Nitish Kumar was on the rise. But this time around, his government, along with the sentiments towards the NDA government at the Centre, is on decline."

The CPI(ML)L general secretary said India's electoral politics has an anomaly as there is usually a mismatch between vote percentage and seats secured.

"Our votes since the 2020 elections have remained more or less the same, but the number of seats has plunged," he highlighted.