Introspection, voices of course correction within Cong after worst drubbing in Bihar

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) As the Congress and the Mahagathbandhan suffered a humiliating defeat in the Bihar elections on Friday, calls for introspection and course correction started emerging from the opposition bloc, with some criticising the concentration of power in a few hands.

Congress stalwart late Ahmed Patel's daughter Mumtaz Patel alleged that the party's failures are a result of giving power in the hands of leaders who are totally disconnected from the ground reality.

In a post on X, she said it is time to look within and accept the reality. She asked how long the loyal party workers have to wait to witness success.

The NDA is set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in close to 200 of 243 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with nearly 95 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, who was formerly with the Congress, urged opposition leaders to speak to the women of the country.

"Dear Opposition Leaders. Unsolicited advise. Speak to the women of the country. An alternative cannot be without them. Thank you," she said in a post on X.

The Mahagathbandhan, which includes RJD, Congress and three Left parties, seemed to be poised for a crushing defeat, struggling to cross the 35-seat mark.

"No excuses, No blame game, No introspection, it's time to look within and accept reality," Mumtaz Patel said.

"Till when will countless loyal ground workers who have stayed with the party through thick and thin ... wait to see success ... instead it's failure after failure due to power concentrated in the hands of few who are totally disconnected with ground reality and are responsible for the misery and rout of the grand old party time and again.

"And mark my words these same people will be rewarded again and again because they have made themselves indispensable with their control and power!!" she said in her post.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the party would examine the results, do some serious introspection, and look into the organisational mistakes that led to such a verdict.

He also said he was not invited to campaign in the Bihar election, while noting that the Congress would examine the reasons for its defeat.

"Remember, we were not the senior partner in the alliance, and the RJD also has to look carefully at its own performance," he told reporters.

According to him, in a mandate like Bihar’s, it is important to examine the totality of the party’s performance. He noted that elections are about a number of factors.

"There is, of course, the popular mood. There are questions about the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses. There is a question of messaging. These are issues that will have to be looked at,” he said.

Another Congress leader and former state chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, "We will introspect where Congress lagged. However, I congratulate Nitish Kumar and the NDA. There shouldn’t have been friendly fights - RJD’s Sanjay Yadav and our party’s Krishna Alavarru will better explain why we performed poorly in the elections." PTI SKC SKC AMJ AMJ