Had legitimate claim on RS seat from Bihar but gave up for interest of grand alliance: CPI(ML) L

CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya asserted that his party had a ‘legitimate claim’ on a Rajya Sabha seat in Bihar, which it relinquished in the larger interests of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya asserted that his party had a 'legitimate claim' on a Rajya Sabha seat in Bihar, which it relinquished in the larger interests of the 'Mahagathbandhan'.

Mr. Bhattacharya, whose party had earlier demanded five out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, however, made it clear that it will now seek a greater share in view of the exit of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) from the grand alliance.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Bhattacharya, said, "The CPI (ML) Liberation has 12 MLAs in the Bihar assembly. We have made sacrifices for the alliance. We had a legitimate claim on a Rajya Sabha seat. But after the intervention of the top leadership of the Congress party, we decided to defer our claim (for a Rajya Sabha seat) in the interests of the grand alliance".

The Mahagathbandhan comprises the RJD, the Congress and three Left parties, including the CPI(ML) L.

He said that the party will support all three candidates of 'Mahagathbandhan' in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Bihar.

Mr. Bhattacharya, however, denied speculations that he was in the race for a Rajya Sabha berth from the state.

"I was not in the race at all. It was all baseless news", he said.