Weak organization, wrong ticketing, and part-time politics wreak havoc; Congress collapses ?

November 15, 2025 Ajay K.

Bihar Election Results 2025: Weak organization, wrong ticketing, and part-time politics wreak havoc; Congress collapses

Senior Congress leaders believe that when issues like SIR and vote theft seemed to be dying down at the grassroots level, the leadership slightly altered its strategy. Subsequently, the focus shifted to the issue of employment, but by then it was too late.

Bihar Election 2025: Weak Organization and Poor Strategy Push Congress to Its Worst-ever Collapse

Congress could not give edge to the issue of social justice….

As the Bihar election dates approached, many Congress leaders began to sense the party might not perform well, given the ground situation. But even they hadn’t anticipated such a crushing defeat. Shocked by the crushing defeat, Congress leaders attribute the main reasons to weak organization, incorrect ticket distribution, negative performance, poor strategy, and lack of coordination within the coalition. They say that the party’s heavy-handedness in raising allegations of vote theft, giving tickets to defectors, and failing to fully sharpen the issue of social justice all proved costly. The results also made it clear that Rahul Gandhi’s method of part-time politics cannot work.

As the results began to trickle in, several leaders from Delhi to Patna said that the party’s core issues, from social justice politics to the vote-stealing campaign, weren’t working at the grassroots level, but the political signals weren’t properly understood. According to party leaders, the social justice issue alienated the party’s remaining upper-class vote bank. Rahul Gandhi made the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists and the vote-stealing campaign pet election issues, but these had no impact at the grassroots level. Those close to Rahul were so confident about the party’s strategy that they continued to raise them with great force.

Tickets to NDA leaders increased resentment.
Congress not only accommodated many turncoats from the BJP, JDU, and LJP in the party, but also gave them tickets. This led to increased resentment at the local level. A party leader said, “Whether it’s a candidate from Sonbarsa, Kumhrar, Nautan, Forbesganj, Kuchiakot, or Baldaur, the party gave importance to turncoats. If you give tickets to people who still have pictures with NDA leaders on their social media walls, what credibility remains?”

Lack

of penetration among women and extremely backward classes: Congress attempted to woo backward and extremely backward classes (EBCs), but these failed to fully materialize. Upper caste supporters were alienated. The party failed to dent Nitish’s popularity among women and EBCs. Meanwhile, the Grand Alliance failed to expand its reach beyond the MY. Nitish further strengthened his influence among women by offering the first installment of ₹10,000 to women entrepreneurs under the Chief Minister’s Women’s Employment Scheme.

Worst performance ever.
The Congress, struggling to find its footing in Bihar, suffered its worst performance ever. The party received approximately 8.73 percent of the vote, now approaching its 2010 performance. At that time, the party had won only four seats and 8.37 percent of the vote. This defeat, which occurred on the birth anniversary of the country’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has exacerbated the party’s future crisis. The crushing defeat left the party headquarters in a state of silence, and even the prominent leaders who had been present at the party office since morning gradually left.

The Congress has been striving for a comeback in Bihar since 1990. The Congress’s vote share has been steadily declining, having been out of power. The party last performed well in 1985, when it won 39.3 percent of the vote and 196 seats. In the 1990 elections, the party was reduced to 71 seats, but its vote share was 24.78 percent.

This is how the vote share has declined.
In 1995, the party won 29 seats and a vote share of 16.27%. In 2000, it won 23 seats and secured 11.6% of the vote. The 2005 mid-term elections pushed the party into a tailspin. It managed to win 10 seats and received only 5% of the vote. In the elections held in October of that year, the party was reduced to 9 seats and received 6.9% of the vote. Subsequently, in the 2010 elections, the party won only four seats and a vote share of 8.37%. In 2015, the party won 27 seats and a vote share of 6.66%.

Congress’s 5 major mistakes: The Congress party’s role in the grand alliance proved to be the weakest link, with its organization marginalized

. The party’s mistakes were evident not only in principle but also in its day-to-day campaigning.

Open rebellion over ticket distribution: In districts like Samastipur, Sitamarhi, and Nalanda, ticket distribution sparked open rebellion. Workers protested with placards reading, “We are not soldiers of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).” Even the party’s district presidents had to admit that those in Delhi don’t understand the ground reality and thus choose the wrong candidates.
Major lapses in booth management : On election day, it was common talk in the reporting rooms of Begusarai, Buxar, and Jehanabad that Congress polling agents failed to arrive at many polling stations. The party lacked an effective presence at nearly 80% of the polling stations.
Rahul Gandhi’s rallies lost their charm : Initially, seats remained empty at Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Bhagalpur. To attract crowds, local leaders had to spread the rumor that Tejashwi Yadav himself was coming, even though he wasn’t.
Rebel candidates caused damage: In key seats like Katihar, Darbhanga Rural, and Hilsa, rebel Congress candidates directly harmed the Grand Alliance. In Katihar, a Congress rebel cut 11,000 votes, resulting in the official candidate’s defeat.
Seat coordination collapses: In Purnia, the conflict between the RJD and Congress escalated to the point where RJD supporters locked the Congress office, calling it a vote-splitting hub. This exposed the lack of coordination, which both parties later tried to dismiss as a misunderstanding.

As soon as the election trends began to emerge,
it became clear that the Congress party was poised for its worst performance in Bihar’s political history. After the failure of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Yatra, SIR, and the alleged hydrogen bomb of vote theft in the state, party leaders themselves have called for introspection. Demands for a reconsideration of organizational shortcomings are gaining momentum. Last time, Congress managed to salvage its honor by winning 19 out of 70 seats, but this time it failed to secure even that many seats. The party failed to even come close to its previous vote share of 9.48 percent.
Even before the full results were announced, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed his disappointment, saying, “If the results are in line with the trends, we will have to seriously introspect.” He said, “Remember, we were not the senior partner in the alliance, and the RJD will also have to carefully consider its performance.”

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former Governor Nikhil Kumar said, “The result reflects organizational weakness. In any election, a party relies on organizational strength. If the organization is weak and unable to function effectively, the results are affected. Our candidates are very capable, but even better candidates could have been selected.” Tharoor said,

“Just sitting
around and reviewing will not achieve anything. We must introspect and determine where the mistakes were made. Did the party fail strategically, messaging-wise, or organizationally? I wasn’t invited to campaign in Bihar, but it’s important to examine the party’s performance as a whole.” Senior leader Shakeel Ahmed, who recently broke ties with the Congress, said, “Those in responsible positions should be reviewed. The allegations surrounding ticket distribution should be investigated.”