© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
From the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru’s “non-political” style of working to the “failure” of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra to woo voters, to the nomination of “outsiders” and the party’s weak organisational structure. These are some of the reasons the Congress’s leaders and losing candidates have listed for the party’s disastrous performance in the Bihar Assembly elections.
Several senior Congress leaders and observers have been tasked by the party high command to submit reports on the poll debacle.
Ten losing Congress candidates that The Indian Express spoke to flagged the following reasons for their defeat, which would be part of the party’s internal assessment of its poor showing in Bihar.
‘Outsiders, internal sabotage’
Some Congress candidates complained that several leaders who joined the party just ahead of the polls were given tickets. “At least 10 turncoats were given tickets and, barring two, all of them lost,” one of them said, adding that those who were overlooked were involved in “internal sabotage”.
A section of the leaders also questioned why the party leadership did not placate disgruntled leaders.
Allavaru factor
Several candidates alleged that Allavaru did not travel across the state and remained restricted to Patna, while his “corporate” and “non-political” working style “demoralised” the cadre. “Allavaru’s travels would have energised the party. Moreover, he was appointed in-charge only eight months before the polls. He failed to understand the dynamics of the state in such a short period,” said a candidate.
‘Failed’ Yatras
Some Congress leaders felt that the “Palayan roko, rozgaar do (stop migration, give jobs)” Yatra of Kanhaiya Kumar and Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra across the state failed to consolidate voters in the party’s favour.
Questioning the timing and issues raised during the yatras, a few candidates said Kanhaiya’s campaign should have been held closer to the polls, while Gandhi should have focused on basic issues like unemployment. “Instead, Gandhi concentrated on vote chori, an issue that hardly found resonance on the ground as a poll plank,” a candidate said, adding that even this was not a sustained campaign.
“Favouritism”
In accordance with its usual approach in elections, the Congress had put the seats it contested in three categories, “A”, “B” and “C”, that indicated safe, favourable and difficult seats, respectively.
However, several candidates complained of alleged “favouritism” shown by some senior party leaders in their campaigning. They said some “favourite” constituencies saw several high-profile campaigners who did not reach many other seats.
War rooms
A number of candidates felt that the AICC’s election war rooms was running the show, while the state leadership was not kept in the loop regarding issues to be raised during press briefings and campaigns.
Weak organisation
Despite Gandhi’s push for strengthening the Congress’s district committees, several candidates pointed out that the Bihar party leadership had not worked to strengthen the party structures at the district and booth levels. “There was no physical verification of booth committees. Everything remained on paper. District committees were not constituted, even as the state leadership tried to replace organisational workers with war room people — a strategy that never works,” a candidate said.
Mahagathbandhan rifts
With the Mahagathbandhan failing to make any formal seat-sharing announcement, many leaders felt that a message went out that the coalition was not united. This was made worse by the alliance’s initial hesitation over the declaration of its CM face as well as its “disjointed” campaign. “The friendly fights also confused party workers,” a candidate said.
“Overvaluation” of Sahani
The party candidates said the high command “overestimated” Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani’s heft even as his supposed support base among a section of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) shifted to the NDA. “The results have clearly shown that we did not get the EBC vote. We declared him (Sahani) as the deputy CM face but he did not transfer us any votes. The Congress’s evaluation of Sahani was off the mark,” said a candidate.
Seemanchal issue
Several Congress candidates said the NDA won most of the 24 seats in Seemanchal as the Muslim votes split in the region, part of which moved towards the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM.
Some of them also pointed to the AICC minority department’s chairman Imran Pratapgarhi’s attacks on Owaisi during his electioneering. “This resulted in counter-polarisation and helped the NDA,” a party leader claimed.
