A round of allegations and counter-allegations has started in the opposition camp Grand Alliance, which faced a humiliating defeat in the recently held assembly elections in Bihar. Speculation has also intensified regarding the break of the 28-year alliance of Congress and RJD in the state. In the elections, the ruling NDA has retained power by winning more than 200 seats in the 243-member assembly. After the crushing defeat in Bihar elections, the Congress high command had held a review meeting in Delhi earlier this week. Reached this meeting.
Congress wanted to contest another election
Congress leaders publicly said that a section of party leaders were in favor of contesting the elections alone rather than forging an alliance with its old but influential ally RJD. Shakeel Ahmed Khan, leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the last assembly, is saying these things out loud. He told several news organizations, “Most of our candidates were of the same opinion that if we had not formed an alliance with RJD, we would have performed better. It is for the party high command to decide what the future strategy should be.”
Former JNU Students Union president Shakeel Ahmed Khan faced a shocking defeat in Kadwa assembly constituency, from where he was hoping for a third consecutive victory. The seat has been won by JDU’s Dulal Chandra Goswami, who was politically inactive after losing the Katihar Lok Sabha seat to senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar in last year’s general elections.
Congress suffered loss due to jungle raj image.
Congress sources said many leaders believe that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s ‘Jungle Raj’ narrative, which was allegedly an attempt to highlight the lawlessness prevailing during the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) rule in Bihar, also has a negative impact on the alliance partners.
Apart from this, the alliance with the party run by Lalu Prasad Yadav is said to have angered the upper castes, who were earlier considered supporters of Congress and have now been attracted towards BJP. RJD has got only 25 seats compared to 75 5 years ago, but the party has reacted sharply to Congress’s opinion.
Blame game in grand alliance after defeat
On drawing attention to the alliance partner’s displeasure, RJD state president Mangni Lal Mandal said, “If Congress wants to go alone, then it should do so under any circumstances. It will know its status.” He said, “Whatever votes Congress has got, it is because of RJD. It is an exhausted force in the state. We have been facing their unreasonable demands election after election. In 2020, they insisted on contesting 70 seats and could win only 19 seats. Their victory rate in recent elections has been very poor. Still, if they feel it is better for them to go it alone, then they should definitely do so.”
The system of seat distribution among the grand alliance partners was also not smooth in the elections. Friendly fights took place between RJD, Congress and Left parties in about 12 assembly constituencies. The BJP led alliance, which took full advantage of the confusion prevailing in the opposition camp, has now taken a dig at this political scenario.
BJP’s taunt on grand alliance
BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said, “Congress and RJD fought during the elections and are fighting even now. This was bound to happen because their alliance has neither an ideological base nor any common commitment on issues of public interest. This rift is going to deepen further.”
Amidst this controversy, the coalition partners have agreed to put up a show of unity before the inaugural session of the Assembly starting from Monday (1 December 2025). A meeting of the Grand Alliance was held on Saturday in which the MLAs of all the alliance partners unanimously elected RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav as their leader. Congress was represented in the meeting by MLC and state unit working president Sameer Kumar Singh and two of its MLAs. According to Congress sources, the remaining four MLAs were in Delhi while the meeting took place in Patna.
Ball in Rahul Gandhi’s court
After the defeat in Bihar elections, a report was submitted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (28 November 2025), in which it has been told how much loss the Grand Alliance has suffered due to Asaduddin Owaisi’s party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The report also suggests that there is a need to make major changes in the organization. This will start from the state level.
It was also said that Congress has suffered the biggest loss in Bihar due to contesting elections in alliance with RJD. In Bihar, separate meetings will be held with upper class, OBC and EBC. Rahul Gandhi will start this series soon.