Challenges galore for Congress post-Bihar verdict
For close to four decades, the fate of Congress party that is desperately struggling to remain relevant as a national entity, the ‘Tughlaqian’ streak (over the last decade specifically) to head towards doomsday from the victory pedestal even when everything seems assured has confounded political pundits and, even more so, their fast dwindling number of supporters or what remains of them. Of course, watchers of the Grand Old Party and its manoeuvres to stay afloat from the dangerously shrinking political base have their neatly arranged set of reasons as to why this sorry state-of-affairs continues to haunt it. From a party with a pan-Indian presence, it has now been reduced to a glorified regional party even though the high command is based in Delhi, however miniaturised its presence.
Ever since NDA stormed to power in 2014 and has continued its march into its third term in 2024, the continuing failure of the principal Opposition party, as it is still referred to, in countering the governance lapses and agenda-laden policy decisions of the incumbent government at the Centre has been pointed to one ongoing malaise: the inability to come to terms with its current political status and the overarching ambition of its leaders deluding themselves into thinking that they can still pack a punch and bounce back during polls.
As the Bihar poll battle reached a feverish climax and MGB with its young leader Tejashwi Yadav expecting to topple ‘Paltu Ram’ Nitish Kumar and the NDA formation, among the many pointers raised by analysts, one fact stood out: the damaging influence the Congress party has had and how it ruined the prospects of Tejashwi during the 2020 polls, a jinx that continued in 2025.
If it was the disproportionate number of seats they bagged during the last elections (70) as an alliance partner and the victory tally (19) going on to deny the RJD leader a fair chance to claim the Chief Minister’s gaddi, this time around, their terrible failure even to reach double digits made their alliance an embarrassing counter to the rampaging NDA, which decimated them ruthlessly.
Of course, RJD themselves were rejected mercilessly by the electorate in the 2025 polls, which did not even make them dream of bagging the top slot in Patna. The irrelevance of Congress, which has been the longest in Tamil Nadu (nearly six decades of existence as an alliance partner with either of the two Dravidian parties), has now spread to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
With Karnataka and Telangana now ruled by it, with varying levels of stability and acceptance by the public, the south still seems a safe bet for the party. The typical dissidence and groupism that have plagued its existence over decades remain a thorn in the two states. It would be interesting to see how these two Congress-ruled states handle their own homespun hassles and tackle the High Command’s whimsical ways from here on.
Also, political observers would be keenly watching how the party negotiates its quota of seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections due in the ensuing summer with the DMK, which has always kept them at arm’s length after they come to power, not even mooting the idea of power sharing even once all these years.
Being reduced to being a fringe player is nothing new for Congress in recent times but making it easy for both its so-called allies and a robust NDA to plan its campaign well and sustain a headstart in the days ahead does not bode well for democracy, which thrives on political pow-wows and campaigns that aim to keep the electorate interested till the polling date.
