Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Parliament Rahul Gandhi’s fourth visit in five months to poll-bound Bihar was, seemingly, for two reasons: to revive and rejuvenate his party workers and leaders, and to politically assert his party’s position among the Opposition mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) for more seat share in the upcoming Assembly elections due in October-November.
Mr. Gandhi’s visit seems not to be to counter the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) but to take his party out of political slumber in the State, according to a political analyst.
Earlier, mahagathbandhan partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had indicated that the Congress would not be given more than 40 seats in the coming polls. In 2020, it contested in 70 seats but could win only 19, the poorest strike rate (27%) among all alliance partners as even the Left parties—Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India(Marxists) and Communist Party of India (Marxists-Leninist)—had won 16 of the 29 seats they contested.
The principle Opposition party, RJD had contested in 144 seats and won 75 to become the single largest party in the Assembly. In the final tally, however, the BJP and Janata Dal (United)-led NDA won 125, while the mahagathbandhan secured 110 seats, 12 short of a simple majority in the 243-member Assembly.
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The Congress had a relatively better performance in the 2015 Assembly election, when it won 27 seats. However, after the 2020 polls, political analysts were of the opinion that had RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav not generously parted with 70 seats for the Congress, “his dreams of becoming Chief Minister would not have been dashed”.
“The Congress was and is not in a position to make any significant electoral dent into the ruling NDA’s vote bank and push Mr. Yadav to become the Chief Minister in the State. It was electorally a grave mistake by RJD to part with 70 seats in last 2020 State Assembly poll to the Congress party, which we all see is lying in deep political slumber in the State since long,” said political analyst Nawal Kishore Choudhary, a former professor of Patna University. On the question of mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face, RJD leaders kept reiterating “it is obvious (while referring towards party leader Tejashwi Yadav)”, while Congress leaders said the issue would be decided after the elections are over.
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Seemingly taking a cue from the last Assembly polls, RJD leaders have indicated that they would not spare as many as 70 seats to the Congress party in the upcoming election. This, perhaps, might have influenced Mr. Gandhi, who has been visiting the State almost every month, barring March, this year.
On Thursday, he met students of a Dalit hostel in Darbhanga and claimed that the caste census announced by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was done under the pressure he had exerted. In Patna, he watched the movie Phule at a local theatre.
A few months ago, the Congress appointed Dalit leader Rajesh Ram as Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president.
Published – May 15, 2025 08:30 pm IST
