The
reactions of all major opposition parties after the Bihar Assembly election
results clearly show how helpless and confused the opposition is. The major
anti-BJP parties, including Congress, UBT and Akhilesh Yadav, have blamed the
Election Commission for the defeat in Bihar. On the other hand, a key
opposition leader in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, responded in a restrained manner by
saying ‘We will examine our mistakes,’ and thereby indicating that the Election
Commission is not to be blamed for his defeat.
Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal
and Congress were in an alliance in the Bihar elections but it is important to
note that he still refused to fully align with Rahul Gandhi and Congress.
Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan have indirectly suggested that Rahul
Gandhi, the prince of Congress, is solely responsible for the party’s
humiliating defeat in Bihar. After recognizing its true strength, the party
should have contested 30 seats instead of 60. In that case, the party would
have won more seats. The leadership made those decisions based on incorrect
information provided to them about the party’s strength, Prithviraj Chavan
reportedly said. The entire candidate selection process was marked by major
financial dealings, which led to a reduction in Congress’s seats, Shakeel Ahmed
said. While resigning from the party, he publicly exposed Rahul Gandhi’s
limitations as a leader.
Not a single Congress office-bearer has
come forward to counter the public statements made by Prithviraj Chavan and
Shakeel Ahmed. This also means that most Congress leaders and officials may not
agree with Rahul Gandhi’s approach of blaming the Election Commission rather
than focusing on building the party organization. After the 2024 Lok Sabha
elections, Congress faced a complete debacle in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and
Bihar. Thanks to its ally parties, the National Conference and Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha, Congress party was able to save some face in Jammu & Kashmir and
Jharkhand.
The massive defeat in Bihar has severely
dented Congress’s stature in national politics. In the 2024 Lok Sabha
elections, Congress formed the India Alliance by joining hands with several
regional parties. The alliance partners have now begun feeling the burden of
Congress. Therefore, there are signs that the alliance partners may gradually
start breaking away from Congress. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab
and Himachal Pradesh are just a year and a half away. Congress is in alliance
with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. It won’t be surprising
if Akhilesh Yadav distances himself from Congress considering the experience in
Bihar.
A strong opposition is extremely
essential in Democracy. It is the duty of the opposition to corner the ruling
party on issues concerning public interest. Congress has not done justice to
the role of a strong opposition, inside as well as outside Parliament, since
2014. For the past 11 years, the Congress leadership has been creating
continuous ruckus in the House, thereby ensuring repeated disruptions in the
Lok Sabha. The victory of 99 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 seems to have gone to the
head of the Congress leadership, namely Rahul Gandhi. Following the Lok Sabha
elections, the Congress party has adopted an arrogant stance in Parliament.
Halting the proceedings of the Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha over one issue or another has become routine. Rahul Gandhi does
not care about this at all. In Congress, no one dares to speak against the
Gandhi family. Hence, no senior leader dares to impart some wisdom to Rahul
Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi has taken the Maharashtra defeat personally. Therefore, he
has started blaming the EVMs, the Election Commission and voter lists for his
defeat to cover up his failure. Following the rise of Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1969-70
the organization of the Congress began to weaken. The Gandhi family made sure
that a second-tier leadership could never emerge within the party.
Congress has failed to win or retain
power in any state, except for Karnataka and Telangana. Congress’s chief
campaigner, Rahul Gandhi, suddenly disappeared and went on a foreign tour while
the campaigning in Bihar was at its peak. The disappearance of a party’s top
leader during a campaign is extremely unfortunate for that party. All exit
polls had predicted a victory for Congress in Haryana. However, the party
suffered a major defeat in the state. Rahul Gandhi, who was making a fuss by
alleging that the Election Commission’s vote theft caused Congress’s defeat,
has completely ignored the fact that all exit polls had predicted a victory for
the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand. Rahul Gandhi had pointed out many
errors in the voter lists in press conferences. The Election Commission of
India initiated a drive to revise the voter lists for better accuracy. Rahul
Gandhi vehemently opposed this campaign.
Along
with correcting errors in the voter lists, preventing Bangladeshi and Rohingya
infiltrators from voting and removing their names from the electoral rolls is
also the aim of the Election Commission. People like Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav
Thackeray have begun vehemently opposing the voter list revision drive without
understanding its purpose. While blaming the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi
revealed his limited political understanding. If he continues to play politics
this way, Congress will be the only party left in the Indi Alliance.
BJP has intentionally nurtured second
and third-tier leadership within the party since its inception. On the
contrary, the Gandhi family constantly tries to curb anyone other than the
family from emerging as a leader. Bihar elections have taught many lessons to
all opposition parties including Congress. Congress will have a future only if
its leadership truly learns lessons in political wisdom from the Bihar election
results.
(Article
Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 24 November,
2025)
Keshav
Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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