Patna: CPI national general secretary D Raja said here on Monday that his party expected “fair and reasonable share” in the assembly seats to contest as a Grand Alliance (GA) partner in the polls. “Our party has submitted a list of 24 assembly seats, where we have strong support, to the coordination committee of the GA. The coordination committee will discuss the claims made by the various alliance partners, and reach an understanding for an amicable seat sharing,” Raja said, while talking to reporters here on Monday.He was here to participate in the CPI’s two-day state council meet that concluded on Sunday. The state council decided on the party programmes to be taken up ahead of the assembly elections, and also on making active participation in the countrywide protests planned for July 23 and 24 against the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. However, making preparations for the coming assembly elections in Bihar was high on the agenda. “Our understanding is that the state CPI will get fair and reasonable share of seats to contest,” he said, adding that the primary aim of the GA is to defeat the BJP and also unseat the NDA govt from power for which the CPI has been making preparations in all the 243 assembly seats in favour of the GA partners.However, CPI state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey pointed out that during the seat-sharing exercise for the 2020 assembly polls, his party’s strength was underestimated. “We were given six seats to contest, and we won two of them. In contrast, the CPI(ML) was allotted 19 seats. This time, our claim is that the CPI should get at least 20 seats to contest in view of our relative strength and presence,” Pandey said.The CPI(ML) has submitted a list of 45 seats to the GA coordination committee for discussion and final seat allotment, and the CPM has staked claim on 12 seats.
