CPI(ML) Liberation’s Qayamuddin Ansari, contesting from Ara, is running a people-funded campaign with no major financial backing.
He accuses the BJP-led governments at every level of allowing Ara to decay despite large budgets, citing poor infrastructure, joblessness, and rising poverty.
Ansari pledges to prioritise roads, education, health, and irrigation if elected, and vows to represent the voices of workers, youth, and the poor.
As campaigning intensifies ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, CPI(ML) Liberation candidate Qayamuddin Ansari is preparing for his third contest from the Arrah constituency in Bhojpur district. Arrah will vote in the first phase on November 6.
Ansari, who declared in his affidavit that he has Rs 20,000 in cash and Rs 13,000 in his bank account, is among the poorest candidates in the 2025 Bihar election.
Having narrowly lost the previous election by just 3,002 votes, Ansari says he has spent the past five years working on people’s struggles and local issues, from neglected infrastructure to unemployment and urban decay.
In an interview with Outlook, Ansari discussed his campaign strategy, his critique of the BJP-led government, and what he hopes to change if elected.
You are contesting from Arrah for the third time. What makes this election different?
In the last election, I lost by a very thin margin, just 3,002 votes. Since then, I have spent five years among the people, raising their issues and participating in movements on the ground. The difference this time is that people have seen who actually stands with them. This is not just another campaign; it’s a continuation of five years of public service.
You have criticised the condition of Arrah city. What are your main concerns?
Arrah is governed by the BJP government, one at the constituency level, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor from BJP in the Nagar Nigam. Despite a municipal budget of over Rs 1,000 crore, the city remains in a miserable state. The roads are broken, the health system is collapsing, there’s no library for children, and sanitation is poor. Students are forced to study in open spaces, near the church, in front of Maharaja College, anywhere they can find. This neglect reflects total administrative failure.
You have been campaigning for a few weeks now across Arrah, what are people in the rural panchayats telling you?
There are twelve panchayats around Arrah, and they all face the same problems. Every monsoon, the Dinda river floods villages, destroying crops and homes. Farmers don’t get irrigation water, the government tube wells don’t work, there’s no electricity in many areas, and people are simply abandoned. Whether urban or rural, people have told me that Arrah has been ruined by the BJP government.
Other parties have big budgets for rallies and advertising. How are you running your campaign?
I rely on public donations. People contribute what they can, a few rupees, a litre of petrol, food, or vehicle support. I’ve hired two or three vehicles, but much of my election campaign is on foot. I call my feet “car number 11”, they run on people’s strength, not money. This election will not be won by engines or convoys; it will be won by the unity of the people.
If you win, what are the first things you will focus on in Arrah?
If the people of Arrah place their trust in me, my first priority will be to restore the city’s basic dignity, beginning with its roads. Every neighbourhood, from the old quarters to the rural outskirts, is suffering from broken, uneven roads that make daily life miserable and stall economic activity.
My second focus will be on education, setting up a proper public library and a study centre so that students don’t have to crowd under streetlights or study in open spaces. Arrah’s young minds deserve a place to learn, think, and prepare for their future.
Third, I want to strengthen health services and ensure irrigation for farmers. From hospitals to tube wells, everything that sustains life here is either defunct or poorly managed. These are not luxuries; they are basic rights. Arrah has long been treated as an afterthought, it’s time we give the city development with dignity.
How do you assess the Nitish Kumar-led government’s record?
For twenty years, the BJP-led alliance has ruled Bihar, and what have people got? Hunger, unemployment, and migration.
Nitish Kumar promised jobs and development, but today, three crore young people have left Bihar to earn their daily bread. During the brief 17-month government in which our party was part, five lakh youth got employment. But since then, everything has stalled. The caste survey revealed that over one crore families live below the poverty line, that’s 34 percent of Bihar’s population. I call this Mahabhukhmari, a great famine of governance.
What does the CPI(ML) Liberation alliance promise voters this time?
Our alliance has clear commitments. We will provide jobs to every household and ensure employment guarantees for youth.
We will increase the old-age pension from the current ₹400 to ₹1,500 immediately, then by ₹200 every year, reaching ₹2,500 within five years.
Under the Mahila Samman Yojana, women will receive ₹2,500 per month as financial support and recognition of their contribution. We also promise to restore law and order, to make people feel safe again. Murders and violence have become common in Bihar. We will ensure justice and end the politics of fear.
