Congress' Bharat Singh predicts '11 party MLAs in Bihar will resign' amid poll drubbing

Nearly two months after Congress' poor performance in the Bihar Assembly polls, a local leader has made a sensational prediction about the party's diminishing fortunes. The Sonia Gandhi-led party could win only 19 out of the 70 seats which it contested in the 2020 Bihar election, thereby denting Mahagatbandhan's performance. According to former Congress MLA Bharat Singh, 11 of the aforesaid legislators will leave the party.

Taking a dig at these leaders for joining Congress just before the polls, he alleged, "These people have just paid money and bought tickets and have now become MLAs".

Accusing Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh and senior leader Sadanand Singh of "anti-party activities", he opined that they were likely to exit the party as well. Contending that the alliance with RJD could be self-destructive to the party, Singh claimed that the Congress high command had been given a wrong picture of the on-ground situation. 

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Bihar Assembly polls debacle

The 2020 Bihar Assembly election witnessed a voter turnout of 57.05% as against that of 56.66% in the 2015 polls. The polls turned out to be a nail-biting contest with NDA emerging victorious in 125 seats as against that of 110 seats won by the Mahagatbandhan. BJP, RJD, JD(U), Congress won 74, 75, 43, and 19 seats respectively. With 4 seats each, VIP and HAM (S) had a crucial role to play in the ruling alliance breaching the majority mark. Similarly, AIMIM made a huge mark in Bihar politics as 5 of its candidates were declared winners. 

Kapil Sibal, one of the 23 senior Congress leaders who had expressed dissatisfaction with the party's leadership, again raised probing questions after the debacle in the Bihar Assembly election. In an interview with The Indian Express, he remarked that the people of the country "don't consider Congress to be an effective alternative". The former Union Minister alleged that there was a reluctance to address issues within the party as the Congress Working Committee is a "nominated body". Moreover, RS MP P Chidambaram observed that Congress contested more seats than its organizational strength in Bihar and called for a comprehensive review of a downturn in the party's electoral fortunes.

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