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.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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