Bihar Assembly elections | Result crucial to Congress revival
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The Congress could be the junior associate within the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led alliance in Bihar however its efficiency within the Hindi heartland State may play an necessary function within the celebration’s revival plan.
Amidst a renewed name for Rahul Gandhi to take over because the Congress chief as soon as once more, the election may properly be a litmus check for Mr. Gandhi, the principal campaigner for his celebration.
It may additionally set the tone for the celebration’s marketing campaign for the following spherical of Assembly elections, anticipated round April-May subsequent 12 months, in crucial States equivalent to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
“These elections come at a time of churn within the Congress. The party plans to have a full-time president next year and if it does well and improves on its previous tally, Mr. Gandhi may become the natural unanimous choice. But if that’s not the case, then there will be challenge as senior leaders had recently written about the leadership question,” mentioned Professor Sri Prakash Singh, Department of Politics, Delhi University.
In the 2015 Assembly elections, the Congress had its greatest efficiency in practically twenty years. Of the 41 seats it contested as a part of the grand alliance between the RJD and Nitish Kumar Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the celebration gained 27 seats.
The surprising outcomes had been meant to be a set off to revive the celebration within the Hindi heartland the place it had misplaced out to leaders equivalent to Lalu Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan — all merchandise of JP [Jayaprakash Narayan] motion — and their model of politics at social re-engineering.
But removed from it, the then Bihar Congress chief, Ashok Choudhury, switched sides when JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by parting methods with the RJD and the Congress.
Dependent on alliance
“The party at the State level as well as the central level only relies on alliances. Congress workers mostly carry on with routine political activity and become visible only during the elections,” mentioned {K}.{K}. Jha, a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) from Bihar.
“There were so many issues. From 15 years of anti-incumbency to the collapse of the health and education system, the Congress should have emerged as the main voice of the people. Nearly 200 children died from encephalitis in Muzaffarpur but we could not hold the government accountable. Since it has become a habit of sorts to depend on alliances, our State leaders failed to raise issues strongly,” Mr. Jha added.
No voter base
In these elections, of the 243 Assembly seats, the Congress has fielded candidates in 70 constituencies. But the celebration can hardly boast of a powerful organisation on the bottom or winnable candidates.
“While the RJD has its Yadav and Muslim voter base intact, the Congress does not have a voter base or an organisation on the ground. And they have also not been able to reach out to any particular group like the Brahmins and Dalits, who used to be their traditional voters,” Professor Singh mentioned.
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