NEW DELHI: From unflagging excoriation of
RJD through its rule in Bihar for caste violence and criminal reign of don-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin in Siwan to emerging as a catalyst in Mahagathbandhan's plucky show in 2020 and now playing a stabilising force to defuse tensions in the alliance, CPI(ML) has traversed a political arc where shades of electoral pragmatism seem to have gained over ideological rigidity.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya was an early supporter of RJD functionary Tejashwi Yadav's projection as the alliance's CM face and is believed to have played a key role in placating Vikashsheel Insaan Party's Mukesh Sahani and ironing out wrinkles between RJD and Congress as the allies came on board to endorse Tejashwi's leadership while Sahani extracted their backing as his second-in-command.
A vivid example of CPI(ML)'s transformation is Siwan, where its cadre, comprising landless poor and marginal farmers, were long at the receiving end of violence from the alleged criminal enterprise overseen by Shahabuddin, who was first elected to the assembly as an independent from Ziradei in 1990 before emerging as one of the key associates of the then CM Lalu Prasad, first in Janata Dal and then RJD.
As the shadow of Shahabuddin, who was supported by sections of landlords as a protective force against CPI(ML)'s militant tactics, lengthened over Siwan, the hardline Left party too emerged as a strong counter force. Shahabuddin was accused of ordering the killing of its student activist Chandrashekhar, seen as his potential political challenger, and another activist in 1997, igniting massive protests.
Cut to 2025 and Shahabuddin's son Osama Shahab is banking on his father's 'legacy' to enter the assembly from Raghunathpur, a part of Siwan, as a RJD candidate, backed by allies, including CPI(ML). The Left party is contesting a few seats in district.
CPI(ML) was no less critical of RJD over massacre of Dalits and other poor as caste war raged between militias supported by upper caste landlords and the landless and marginal peasantry. It raged against RJD as its MLAs defected, considered a determined bid by Lalu Prasad to weaken the party's hold over the poor among backward castes and Dalits in parts of Shahbad and Magadh, besides Siwan.
Political scientist Rahul Verma said that pragmatism alongside ideology has played a role in the party's trajectory, as it for the first time in 2020 won a sizeable number of seats by emerging victories in 12 of 19 seats it contested in alliance with RJD. It is contesting 20 seats this time.
CPI(ML), rooted in ideology and mass movement, has also seen decline of ideologically-driven Left parties, especially CPM in Bengal and Tripura, he noted. With space of non-political and non-electoral voices limited, CPI(ML) has aligned with parties which help them fight what they see as their bigger ideological enemy in BJP. Its trajectory is no different from several other parties which once fought against Congress and then allied with it as the national party weakened and BJP emerged as a stronger force, he said.
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