Lok Sabha elections 2019: Left set to field Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai

The Left Front could get to contest on three seats in Bihar under a likely alliance with RJD and Congress

A Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress-Left Front alliance is in the works in Bihar. According to sources, the Left, comprising six parties, is likely to get as many as three of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in that state to contest.

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) chief Dipankar Bhattacharya has held meetings with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, while the state leadership of the Communist Party of India (CPI) is also in contact with Prasad.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury met Lalu Prasad when the latter was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. The two agreed that the Left Front should get adequate number of seats to contest in the Lok Sabha polls.

While the alliance is yet to be finalised, the Left Front could get to contest Begusarai and Jahanabad, besides either Samastipur or the adjoining Ujiyarpur.

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union leader Kanhaiya Kumar could get to contest the Begusarai seat on the CPI ticket, while the CPI (ML) might field a candidate as part of the alliance for the Jehanabad seat. Either Samastipur or Ujiyarpur could go to the CPI (M).

The RJD, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party already have an alliance in the state. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha is also a constituent of the alliance. The Left parties have had a significant presence in Bihar.