Congress blames internal squabbling, NDA's Rs 10k scheme for women for Bihar poll debacle in key meet
The Congress leaders blamed the late ticket distribution, and internal squabbling and differences within the party for its loss in the Bihar elections during the meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and national president Mallikarjun Kharge held a key meeting with party's Bihar unit leaders to discuss the present political scenario in the state, where the grand old party faced a drubbing in the recently concluded assembly elections. The meeting was held at Kharge's residence in New Delhi.
During the meeting, party's key leaders from Bihar, including Congress' state unit chief Rajesh Ram and party in-charge for Bihar Krishna Allavaru. Notably, this is the second key meeting the Congress top brass held to discuss the party's decimation in the 2025 Bihar elections.
The Congress leaders blamed the late ticket distribution, and internal squabbling and differences within the party for its loss in the Bihar elections. The leaders also blamed the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Rs 10,000 incentive scheme for women, according to news agency PTI.
Congress' drubbing in Bihar elections
Out of the 61 seats it contested, the grand old party won just six seats, with a strike rate of even less than 10 per cent. It's alliance partner, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), also performed miserably, winning just 25 seats out of the 143 constituencies it contested. In total, the Mahagathbandhan or the grand alliance won just 35 seats out of the 243 constituencies.
Smaller partners such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) won two seats, and the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won one seat each.
NDA's thumping performance
The NDA retained power in the state, winning more than 200 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest with 89 seats, while Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) won 85 seats. Union Minister Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also continued to impress, winning 19 seats. Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) won five and four seats, respectively.