The Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in the Bihar elections, winning leads in only 4-5 seats as of 1 pm on counting day. The RJD-led Mahagatbandhan was swept aside by the NDA wave, leaving party leaders from Delhi to Patna in shock. Despite earlier warnings that campaign strategies were failing on the ground, the scale of the loss surprised even internal critics. Party insiders identified three main reasons for the debacle: the social justice focus alienated upper-caste supporters without attracting new voters, the vote theft narrative had no ground resonance, and the induction of NDA turncoats damaged credibility. Nitish Kumar's welfare schemes, especially for women and Extremely Backward Classes, proved more effective. The Congress struggled with a lack of coherent messaging, while leaders ignored feedback from field workers about failing campaign themes.
Three Key Failures Behind Congress Collapse
Party leaders pinpointed three critical mistakes. First, the social justice plank pushed away remaining upper-caste voters without winning over backward and Extremely Backward Classes, who preferred Nitish Kumar. Second, the vote theft campaign championed by Rahul Gandhi found no ground support despite clear feedback. Gandhi even held a press conference on polling eve alleging Haryana vote theft, signaling lack of confidence. Third, inducting turncoats from BJP, JD(U), and LJP destroyed credibility. At least ten candidates had NDA backgrounds, with social media still showing photos alongside NDA leaders. This contradicted the Congress's anti-BJP stance. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar's Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, announced August 29, deposited Rs 10,000 to over 1.21 crore women, proving far more effective than Congress messaging.
Source: Link