Bihar elections: Has Congress’ poor show dented Tejashwi’s chances?

The Congress was headed for another dismal show in Bihar assembly elections and this is likely to massively dent the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan’s chances.

The exit polls predicted victory for the grand alliance but the trends on the counting day today (November 10) so far have showed the NDA ahead and set to retain power.

Analysts feel Tejashwi may have made a mistake by agreeing to give 70 seats to the Congress in the 243-member assembly. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) contested in 144 constituencies.

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In 2015, the Congress won 27 seats, and the RJD 80 while the Janata Dal (United) bagged 71 and the BJP 53.

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha’s son and Congress candidate Luv Sinha was trailing in Bankipur against the BJP’s Nitin Nabin.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 39 of the 40 seats and the Congress managed to bag only one, while the RJD failed to open the account.

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Rahul Gandhi had campaigned in the state for the three-phase elections but he did not draw massive crowds as Tejashwi’s rallies.

“We have to acknowledge that the Congress is the smaller party in the state. Rahul Gandhi ji did his bit by campaigning across the state, but yes, there are things that need to be done to strengthen our organisational machinery,” Congress Rajya Sabha member Nasir Hussain said, according to NDTV.

“It is clear that there is just no alternative to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. The Congress is in no position to create any sort of dent to him and the BJP. In fact, we know that RJD, after much push-and-pull, agreed to give the Congress a maximum of 48 seats, but then political arm-twisting got them more. We all can see what Congress has done about it,” former Janata Dal United leader Pavan Varma was quoted as saying by NDTV.