Congress Questions EC’s Role After Heavy Bihar Defeat; Top Leaders Hold Review Meeting

A day after suffering a major setback in Bihar, the Congress on Saturday cast doubt on the functioning of the Election Commission, as senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, met to assess the disappointing outcome.

According to party sources, the discussions brought together Kharge, Gandhi, AICC general secretary (Organisation) K. C. Venugopal, treasurer Ajay Maken, and Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru. The meeting focused on understanding why the party managed to win only six of the 61 seats it contested, its second-worst performance in the state since 2010, when it secured just four seats.

Gandhi did not address the media after the internal review, while leaders of the Mahagathbandhan alliance, of which the Congress is a constituent, were said to be in “disbelief” following the NDA’s sweeping victory.

Responding to questions on the outcome, Venugopal placed the blame squarely on the Election Commission. He alleged that the poll process lacked transparency and insisted that the party would soon present evidence to support its concerns.

“This result that has come from Bihar is unbelievable for all of us. This is not only for Congress. The entire Bihar people are not believing it and also our alliance partners. We discussed with all of them; they are not believing it,” Venugopal said.

He further pointed to the NDA’s near-perfect strike rate, saying, “Because, a 90 per cent plus strike rate for a political party, which has not happened in Indian history. We are doing a thorough analysis; we are collecting data from across Bihar. Within one or two weeks, we will come out with concrete proof.”

Calling the conduct of the polls “completely questionable”, Venugopal reiterated long-standing objections raised by Congress leaders during the campaign. “The Election Commission is totally one-sided. Whatever they are doing, there is no transparency at all, and therefore, this process is questionable. Anyway, we will collect all data from everywhere from entire Bihar and then present the facts,” he said.

When asked about Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the election was “not fair”, Venugopal referred to similar concerns flagged during the Haryana elections. “We have been talking about the Election Commission (role) and we talked about this during the Haryana elections, that the Haryana election is rigged,” he noted. “We have come out with evidence and have the Election Commission question our evidence,” he added, promising that “On Bihar polls also, we will come with concrete proof.”

On Friday, Gandhi had described the Bihar verdict as “surprising”, arguing that the election “was not fair from the very beginning” and that this was a key reason behind the party’s poor showing. He also stated that both the Congress and the INDIA bloc would undertake a detailed assessment of the results.

The Congress has additionally alleged that the Bihar mandate reflects “vote chori on a gigantic scale — masterminded by the PM, the HM, and the Election Commission”. Throughout his campaign, Rahul Gandhi had centred his attacks on the BJP around these “Vote Chori” claims.

With PTI inputs