Published 11:13 IST, November 12th 2020
Congress netas want introspection on Bihar poll debacle; 'AIMIM's entry not a good sign'
On Thursday, Tariq Anwar, general secretary of Congress, & MP PL Punia has said that grand old party must introspect after their massive loss in Bihar elections
In Bihar Assembly elections 2020, Congress was able to win only 19 out of the 70 seats it contested as a part of seat-sharing with the RJD and the left parties in Mahagathbandhan. While CPIM-L has made a comeback in Bihar with 12 seats, Tejashwi Yadav - the CM face of Mahagathbandhan fell short of forming the government despite RJD becoming the single largest party and many have blamed it on Congress' poor performance. Now, leaders in Congress party is raising their voice all over again.
On Thursday, Tariq Anwar, general secretary of Congress, said that the party should accept the truth and introspect about their loss. He has said that the entry of AIMIM in Bihar is not a good sign for the electoral future of the grand old party. Congress MP PL Punia has backed Anwar's opinion and said that a review should happen on the bad performance of the party so that such situation doesn't arrive in the next elections.
However, many others like Adhir Ranjan Choudhary are still in denial and has blamed the AIMIM for hampering the vote bank of the grand-old party. However, chaos had ensued in the Congress party during seat allotment, and the Central leadership of the party even removed its own state chief from the poll panel. After the tickets were given in the first phase of Bihar polls, former state chiefs Chandna Bagchi and Anil Sharma accused AICC in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, BPCC president Madan Mohan Jha and BPCC campaign committee chairman Akhilesh Prasad Singh of favouring ‘tainted and incompetent’ leaders.
Dissenting voices had risen in Congress party a few months ago at the backdrop of the fight between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan. Senior Congress leaders like Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad had then spoken openly against the Central leadership of the Gandhis, and 23 senior leaders had demanded robust reforms in the party. However, interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was able to quash the rebellion and had assured party members of reviewing the raised demands.
The AIMIM factor
Asaduddinn Owaisi's AIMIM won 5 seats in Bihar out of the 20 he contested. However, when he was termed as B-team of BJP, he slammed the Congress and gave proof. He said that out of the 20 seats AIMIM contested, they won 5 while NDA and Mahagatbandhan had won 6 and 9 seats respectively. Owaisi pointed out that NDA's victory margin on the seats that it won- Sahebganj, Chhatarpur, Narpatganj, Pranpur, Barari, and Raniganj - was more than the votes secured by his party. Thus, NDA would have won from the aforesaid constituencies even if the AIMIM candidate was not in the fra, he explained.
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.
Updated 11:13 IST, November 12th 2020