Bihar elections: Congress never learns, say allies and insiders after another poll debacle

With the Congress failing to walk the talk in the just-concluded Assembly elections in Bihar, severe reactions came out flying from both party insiders and allies in other states.

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Ambadas Danve, a leader of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which is in alliance with the Grand Old Party in Maharashtra, slammed the party, saying that it repeated the mistake it had made in the western state, where it was not in favour to back Uddhav Thackeray as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2024 Assembly polls, in Bihar.

Congress eyes big but can't deliver, says Danve

He alleged that while the Congress eyes a large number of seats during seat-sharing talks with its allies, it fails to win most of them, resulting in the alliance’s overall performance.

The former legislator’s statement found a reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the state’s ruling Mahayuti alliance, and is also part of the National Democratic Alliance that swept the Bihar elections. The saffron party suggested that the Sena (UBT) should end its ties with the Congress and join its alliance.

Also read: Bihar election results: BJP mocks Rahul's '95 defeats' as NDA sweeps

Speaking to reporters on the NDA's massive mandate in Bihar, Danve said the opposition MVA would have seen a different outcome in the Maharashtra Assembly polls last year had the Congress taken decisive action.

“The Congress should have learnt its lesson earlier, but it did not learn in Bihar either. Had they announced Uddhav Thackeray as the chief ministerial face (ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls) and swiftly finalised the seat-sharing deal, the results would have been different. Yet, they went on to make the same mistake in Bihar,” Danve, who was earlier the Leader of Opposition in the state legislative council, said.

Danve said that in Bihar, the seat-sharing talks between the Congress and Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) continued till the last day of filing of nominations.

When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was taking out his ‘Matadata Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, there was an opportunity to officially project Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate, he said.

Also read: Congress blames SIR for Bihar election debacle, says EC colluded with BJP

“I do not say that this factor alone accounted for the electoral defeat in Bihar, as other issues, including discrepancies in the voters' list, misuse of government agencies, also contributed. But at the same time, it must be acknowledged that both the Congress and Tejashwi Yadav's party did not put in adequate efforts,” the leader claimed.

Ahmad Patel's daughter blasts Congress

Mumtaz Patel, daughter of late Congress stalwart and confidant to former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, also reacted, saying the Congress failed since power is concentrated in the hands of a few leaders who she called were completely cut off from the ground reality.

In a post on X, the Congress member said it is time to look within and accept the reality. She asked how long the loyal party workers have to wait to witness success.

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“No excuses, No blame game, No introspection, it's time to look within and accept reality,” Mumtaz said.

“Till when will countless loyal ground workers who have stayed with the party through thick and thin ... wait to see success ... instead it’s failure after failure due to power concentrated in the hands of few who are totally disconnected with ground reality and are responsible for the misery and rout of the grand old party time and again.

Also read: Modi terms NDA’s landslide win in Bihar as victory of good governance and development

“And mark my words these same people will be rewarded again and again because they have made themselves indispensable with their control and power!!” she said in her post.

Mumtaz wanted to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Bharuch in Gujarat, but failed as the seat went to the AAP as part of the Opposition alliance.

Tharoor seeks serious introspection

Senior Congress MP and former minister Shashi Tharoor called the result “seriously disappointing” and said serious introspection was the need of the hour. He urged the party leaders to do some soul-searching to understand what went wrong in Bihar.

Nikhil Kumar calls Congress organisation weak

Senior Congress leader and former governor Nikhil Kumar said the results exposed the party’s organisational weakness. Speaking to news agency IANS, he said, “This reflects the weakness of our organisation. In any election, a political party relies on its organisational strength. If the organisation is weak and cannot function effectively, the overall outcome suffers. Our candidates are all very capable, but even better candidates could have been chosen.”

Also read: Why Bihar lost before a single vote was cast

The BJP-led NDA was leading in more than 200 out of 243 seats as results came out for the two-phase election in Bihar, with the saffron party itself emerging as the single-largest party with an almost 100-per cent strike rate. The Grand Alliance, comprising the RJD and some Left parties besides the Congress, was leading in less than 40.

(With Agency inputs)