After putting up a strong fight in the Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD led by Tejashwi Yadav missed the crossing line by a whisker. And the Congress’ uninspiring show—winning just 19 seats out of 70 seats it had contested—has been blamed as one of the main reasons for the Mahagathbandhan’s debacle. Now, in a first sign of crack within the opposition, a senior RJD leader has blamed the Congress for putting up a half-hearted fight.
“Congress became a shackle for Mahagathbandhan. They had fielded 70 candidates but didn’t hold even 70 public rallies. Rahul Gandhi came for three days, Priyanka [Gandhi Vadra] didn’t come, those who were unfamiliar with Bihar came here. This is not right,” Shivanand Tiwari told news agency ANI.
“I think this is not the case only in Bihar. In other states too Congress lays more emphasis on contesting on the maximum possible number of seats but they fail at winning the maximum possible number of seats. Congress should think about this,” Tiwari said. “Elections were in full swing here and Rahul Gandhi was having a picnic at Priyanka ji’s house in Shimla. Is the party run like that? Allegations can be levelled that the manner in which Congress party is being run, it is benefitting BJP,” he added.
A few dys back, Congress leader Tariq Anwar had also called the results “definitely below” expectations, saying the party must learn from it. He also hinted at the Congress’ performance hampering the Opposition’s chance to remove the Nitish Kumar government.