Bihar election result: Congress blames 'tough' Bihar seats for 'poor' performance

Facing criticism for being the weak-link in the Grand Alliance, Congress on Tuesday claimed that it had contested toughest seats in Bihar where BJP-JD(U) combined had dominance for nearly two decades.

Congress leaders said that they were not happy with the seats that had come their way in the seat-sharing arrangement with the RJD, and grudgingly accepted the challenge and had performed well on 20 of them.

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“In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP-JD(U) had emerged victorious in 67 assembly segments of the 70 seats that had been left to the Congress to contest in the current assembly polls,” AICC Secretary Pranav Jha said.

Similarly, in the 2015 assembly elections, BJP-JD(U) had won 65 of the 70 seats that had come the Congress' way in the 2020 assembly polls.

Congress leaders said that the party had performed better on the tough seats that had come its way, in a bid to reject the allegations of pulling down the Grand Alliance.

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RJD had put up candidates on 144 of the 243 seats, leaving 70 seats for the Congress and 29 for the Left parties – CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M). The CPI(ML) had a better strike rate having taken a winning lead on 12 of the 19 seats it contested, CPI was leading on three and CPI(M) on two.

Congress leaders said the party had performed well in Magadh area in southern Bihar, but had found the going tough in Seemanchal – the region adjoining the Nepal border.

In the Lok Sabha bypoll in Valmiki Nagar, Congress candidate Pravesh Kumar Mishra was trailing JD(U)'s Sunil Kumar by a margin of more than 20,000 votes at 9:00 p.m.