A deserted Congress party office in Patna(L), RJD leader and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: Congress on Friday night called the Bihar results as "vote chori on a gigantic scale" that is "masterminded" by the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Election Commission, even as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said they could not achieve victory in an election that was "not fair from the very beginning".
While ally CPI(ML)L General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called it "extremely unnatural" and has the "scars of SIR all over it", I.N.D.I.A bloc leader in Bihar RJD did not make any comments. As Congress performance dropped to six seats, its president Mallikarjun Kharge also promised a "thorough study" of the election results and will present a detailed perspective after understanding the reasons for the outcomes.
Congress' position was articulated by General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh through a post on 'X' in which he said, "without doubt the election results in Bihar reflect vote chori on a gigantic scale - masterminded by the PM, the HM, and the Election Commission."
He said the Congress "renews its resolve" to continue with even greater strength its campaign to protect the Constitution and save democracy. Rahul expressed his heartfelt gratitude to those millions of voters in Bihar who expressed their trust in the 'Maha Gadbandhan' even as he described the results as "truly surprising".
"We could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning. This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy. The Congress party and the I.N.D.I.A alliance will deeply review this result and make their efforts to save democracy even more effective," Rahul, who spearheads the Opposition's 'vote chori' campaign, said.
Kharge said they respect the decision of the people and will continue their fight against those forces that are engaged in "weakening democracy by misusing" Constitutional institutions.
"We will conduct a thorough study of the election results and will present a detailed perspective after understanding the reasons for the outcomes...I want to tell every Congress worker that there is no need for you to feel discouraged. You are our pride, honor, and glory. Your hard work is our strength. We will leave no stone unturned in raising awareness among the people. We will continue the struggle to save the Constitution and democracy by staying among the people. This fight is long - and we will fight it with complete dedication, courage, and truth," he said on 'X'.
Bhattacharya said the role of the unprecedented money transfer operation amounting to Rs 30,000 crore among a beneficiary population of three crore defying all notions of election ethics and model code of conduct must also be taken into account.
"A virtual repeat of the 2010 outcome after 15 years when the credibility of the Nitish Kumar government has touched an all-time low and the Modi government too suffered a major loss of support just a year ago defies credulity. We will undertake a thorough analysis of the outcome and draw necessary lessons," he said.
He said his party won two seats -- Paliganj and Karakat -- and lost Agiaon by a narrow margin of 95 votes. In three other seats - Balrampur, Dumraon and Zeeradei, he said, the margin of defeat was less than 3,000. The vote share of the party has been close to 3 perce