CPI(ML)-L Bihar election 2025

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation

Founded in:1969 (as CPI-ML)
Founders/first leaders:Kanu Sanyal, Charu Majumdar, Saroj Dutta
Main leaders:Dipankar Bhattacharya, Rajaram Singh, Sudama Prasad, Shyam Chandra Chaudhary
Alliance:INDIA bloc or Mahagathbandhan
Description:The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation or CPI(ML)-L is the most prominent Lef party in Bihar. Dipankar Bhattacharya is its leader as general secretary. The party's ideology is based on communism and class struggle, and its main base areas are Bihar and Jharkhand. The CPI(ML)-L has a strong presence especially in the Magadh, Shahabad and Saran divisions. The party entered electoral politics in the 1990s under the name of Indian People's Front (IPF) and fielded 82 candidates in the 1990 Bihar assembly election, of which seven won. After this, the party won seats continuously in the 1995, 2000 and 2005 elections, although the numbers remained limited. In 2010, it formed an alliance with other Left parties, which increased the vote share but did not get more seats. In the 2020 Bihar assembly election, the CPI(ML)-L contested 19 seats in alliance with the RJD and Congress, and won 12 seats, making the party the third largest opposition party in the state. The focus of the CPI(ML)-L has been on land reforms, workers' rights, social justice, and anti-corruption movements. The party has lent a new edge to leftist politics in Bihar.