PATNA: Eight months have passed since the Lok Sabha elections concluded in June 2024, when the combined strength of the Opposition alliance managed to halt the BJP juggernaut.
Since then, Assembly elections have been held in five states: Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
Except for Jharkhand, the Congress had its Chief Ministers in the remaining four states until 15 years ago. Today, the party has been completely routed in all four, including Delhi, where Sheila Dikshit ruled for a record uninterrupted 15 years from 1998 to 2013. However, the same Congress has failed to win a single seat in the last three consecutive elections.
Riding Piggyback
Jharkhand remains the sole saving grace for the grand old party. By aligning with the JMM, Congress managed to secure 16 seats in the 81-member Assembly in December 2024 and is currently part of the coalition government in Jharkhand, led by Hemant Soren.
Elsewhere, in states where it once held power—Jammu and Kashmir (Ghulam Nabi Azad), Haryana (Bhupinder Singh Hooda), Maharashtra (Prithviraj Chavan), and Delhi (Sheila Dikshit)—Congress has been completely decimated.
Now, all eyes are on Bihar, where Assembly elections for the 243-member House are scheduled for October-November 2025. Bihar is the only state where Congress ruled for more than four decades but has been out of power since March 1990—almost 35 years.
This election presents Congress with a rare opportunity to reclaim some relevance, especially if it performs well in alliance with the RJD and Left parties.
New Congress In-Charge
The appointment of Rahul Gandhi’s aide, Krishna Alla Varu, as the Bihar Congress in-charge, replacing veteran Mohan Prakash, is seen by the party leadership as a move to revitalize its struggling organization.
But how many people in Bihar even know Alla Varu? For that matter, how many journalists, even senior ones, have heard of him?
Varu’s primary credential is that he oversees the Youth Congress and hails from Karnataka—the home state of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The key question remains: Can he revive Congress’s fortunes in an election year? Can he turn the Bihar Congress into a well-oiled machine capable of taking on the BJP, whose cadres work tirelessly year-round? Can a leader from Karnataka forge a strong bond with Hindi-speaking RJD chief Lalu Prasad, the ultimate decision-maker in Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan?
“I am sure the new Bihar Congress in-charge, Alla Varu, is unfamiliar with Bihar’s geography. Forget the 243 Assembly constituencies, he may not even know all 40 Lok Sabha seats. In its bid to experiment with new leadership, Congress often ends up shooting itself in the foot,” said veteran political commentator Ajay Kumar, who has covered Bihar politics since 2000.
Ajay is not far from the truth. Congress’s organizational structure is in disarray, its cadre is uninspired, and its leaders remain confined to their drawing rooms.
“Congress has never been a street-fighting party. It has no strategy for revival. It has never taken to the streets to champion the cause of the common people or fight for students’ rights. Its only electoral success in Bihar has come from riding on the RJD’s coattails,” remarked a retired professor of Patna University, speaking on condition of anonymity.
To support his argument, he pointed out that in the 2020 Assembly elections, Congress contested 70 seats but won only 19, despite the Mahagathbandhan securing around 110 seats. Had Congress won just 10 more, Tejashwi Yadav would have become Chief Minister in 2020 itself.
Given this context, Tejashwi is reportedly so frustrated with Congress’s poor performance that he is unwilling to allocate more than 40 seats to the party this time.
The Plain Truth
However, Congress leaders have their own reasoning and figures to justify their claims.
“We will not contest fewer than 70 seats in the Assembly elections. Despite being out of power, our vote share has remained intact. To put things in perspective, Congress contested nine seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar and won three. The RJD contested 23 seats and won only four. These numbers speak for themselves when it comes to seat-sharing discussions,” asserted former Bihar Congress president Kaukab Quadri.
