RJD leader says 'Congress shackled gathbandhan'; slams Rahul Gandhi's 'picnic' amid polls

In a blistering attack at its Bihar ally Congress, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari on Sunday, alleged that it seemed like Congress had shacked the Mahagathbandhan, taking down RJD with it in the recently concluded Bihar polls. Tiwari lashed out ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi pointing out that 'he was picnicking in Priyanka Gandhi's Shimla home' in the midst of elections. NDA managed to eke out a majority winning 125 seats, compared to Mahagathbandhan's 110 seats in the Bihar polls.

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'Congress shackling Mahagathabandhan': RJD

"Congress became a shackle for Mahagathbandhan. They had fielded 70 candidates but didn't hold even 70 public rallies. Rahul Gandhi came for 3 days, Priyanka didn't come, those who were unfamiliar with Bihar came here. This is not right," said Tiwari.

He added, "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".

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Tiwari also referred to the 23 Congress leaders who had dissented against the Gandhis, seeking 'structural changes' within the grand old party. Urging Congress to rethink its management, he said that most of Congress' allies felt that the party bargained more seats but failed to win as many. He said that while Congress had bargained for 70 seats, it failed to even hold 70 political rallies - with Rahul Gandhi only attending 3 parties.

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Congress strike rate's in Bihar

Earlier on Thursday, Congress' Bihar ally, CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya commented that the strike of the grand old party was low, opining that 70 seats allotted to Congress was excessive. Meanwhile, Mahagathbandhan's CM face - Tejashwi Yadav refused to comment if Congress pulled down RJD's performance in the polls. Compared to Congress's lowly strike rate of 27.14%, CPI(ML) had an impressive 63% strike rate, which is higher than the single-largest party - RJD (52.03%). Several Congress leaders too had echoed similar sentiments.

Bihar Election Result 2020

The Bihar assembly elections results were declared around midnight on November 10-November 11, with the ruling coalition - NDA winning 125 in the 243-member assembly, against Mahagathbandhan's 110.  Even as the contest remained neck and neck throughout the day, RJD under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, became the single largest party with 75 seats, followed by BJP's 74. While Chirag Paswan's LJP won one seat, it made a major dent in JDU's tally that has come down to 43 from 71 in 2015. The biggest clincher is Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM winning 5 seats and CPI-ML  winning 12 seats. The other two left parties - CPI and CPI-M won two each. The other two alliance partners of NDA - HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.

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