The combined Left front in Bihar has suffered a catastrophic defeat in the 2025 Assembly elections, witnessing a dramatic collapse in its legislative presence. From a respectable tally of 16 seats in the outgoing assembly, the alliance's strength has been reduced to a mere three seats, marking one of its poorest electoral performances in the state.
A Stunning Setback for the Left Alliance
The election results declared on Friday, November 15, 2025, reveal a devastating blow for the Left parties. The alliance's seat share plummeted to less than one-fifth of its previous mandate. The outgoing Bihar Assembly had 16 legislators from the combined Left — 11 from the CPI(M-L), two from the CPI, and two from the CPM. This time, the CPI failed to win a single seat.
Early trends during the vote counting had offered a glimmer of hope, showing the Left parties sometimes leading in more seats than their larger national ally, the Congress. However, these hopes were dashed as the final numbers settled, with the Left securing only half of the Congress's final tally of six seats.
Constituency-Wise Breakdown of the Loss
The scale of the defeat becomes clear when examining the constituencies the Left previously held. After the 2020 polls, which had seen a gain of nine seats for the Left, the CPI(M-L) represented Balrampur, Ziradei, Darauli, Phulwari, Agiaon, Dumraon, Karakat, Arwal, and Ghosi. The CPM held Manjhi and Bibhutipur, while the CPI had Teghra and Bakhri.
By Friday evening, the political landscape had drastically changed. The CPI(M-L) managed to retain only the Karakat seat and added Paliganj to its account. The CPM held on to just Bibhutipur. All other previously held constituencies were lost, resulting in the alliance's drastically reduced presence.
Left Leaders React: 'Unnatural Result' and Accusations
Reacting to the staggering defeat, CPI(M-L) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya termed the final verdict "a very unnatural result." In an interview with The Indian Express, he questioned how the Nitish Kumar-led government, which has been in power for 20 years, and the Modi government at the Centre, which failed to secure a full majority just a year ago, could "produce such a miracle in 2025."
"We have to see why it happened. Why just for the opposition… It is a crisis for the entire country," Bhattacharya stated, indicating deep concerns about the electoral process.
Echoing these sentiments, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M A Baby came close to accusing the NDA of stealing the Bihar Assembly polls. He alleged that the BJP had harnessed "all its manipulative ability" to achieve its sweeping victory in the state.
Baby detailed specific accusations, claiming the ruling alliance used "Special Intensive Revision to intimidate voters, besides money and muscle power" and even alleged a Rs 10,000 bribe to voters after the Model Code of Conduct was enforced.
Despite the strong allegations, the former Lok Sabha MP conceded that the results warranted "sincere and candid introspection" for the Left parties, both independently and collectively. He flagged internal issues like "friendly fights" in about a dozen seats as having potentially contributed to the poor performance.
Baby contextualized the NDA's aggressive campaign by stating, "For the BJP and JDU, it was an existential election — in the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP lost its majority and they are relying on two crutches, the JDU and TDP. If they lost Bihar, one crutch would have gone and their countdown (out of power) would have begun."
The 2025 Bihar election results represent a significant political realignment, leaving the combined Left with the challenging task of rebuilding its presence in a state where it once held considerable influence.
