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The results of the by-elections and biennial elections held on eight seats of Bihar Legislative Council have completely shaken the political equations of the state. These results have exposed the internal bitterness and balance of power of the Maha Vikas Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. The Congress Party has suffered the biggest blow in the election results, which lost its only seat and was reduced to zero. On the other hand, RJD has regained its lost strength by razing the three decade old stronghold of BJP and marching from ‘zero to one’ seat. After this dramatic reversal, now a big question is rising in the politics of Bihar and the inner camp of the Congress itself that for how long will the country’s oldest party, carrying the label of ‘B-Team’ on its forehead, continue to sacrifice the political decisions taken from Lalu Prasad Yadav’s residence at 10 Circular Road (Lalu Awas).
#1 Results of Darbhanga and Patna teacher seats: Congress state president’s fort collapsed, RJD defeats BJP
The most shocking defeat in these results of the Legislative Council was seen from Darbhanga Teachers Constituency. Here veteran Congress leader and former state president Dr. Madan Mohan Jha had to face a crushing defeat. Suresh Prasad Rai, the candidate supported by Prashant Kishor’s newly formed Jan Suraaj Party, broke into this impenetrable fort of Congress and defeated Dr. Madan Mohan Jha and did not even allow Congress’s account to be opened. On the contrary, Lalu Yadav’s RJD laid a tremendous political siege on the Patna teacher seat. RJD candidate Dr. Sanjeev Kumar won the seat by defeating senior BJP leader Naval Kishore Yadav, who had been winning for five consecutive times. In this way, while RJD managed to rise from zero to win one seat, Congress lost its won seat and fell from one to zero.
#1 From seat distribution to deciding the candidate: Lalu Awas’s unilateral pressure and Congress’s surrender
Political analysts believe that the reason behind the plight of Congress in Bihar is none other than its own helplessness and its policy of surrendering before RJD. Be it elections of Assembly, Lok Sabha or Legislative Council, the entire script of ticket distribution is written at the residence of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Local Congress leaders are used only to give their seal of approval. At the regional level, whenever Congress has made compromises on RJD’s terms, ignoring its support base and dedicated workers, it has had to face defeat. RJD uses Congress’s areas of influence to strengthen its political base (MY equation and cadre), but when it comes to making Congress candidates win, RJD’s grassroots vote bank silently changes its ways.
#1 Congress cadre suffocated by the label of ‘B Team’: Will the party now be free from the political influence of RJD?
After the results of MLC elections, a wave of dissatisfaction has erupted within the Congress. The party’s loyal workers and youth leaders openly say that as long as the party runs on the crutches of Lalu-Tejashwi in the state, its independent existence can never be restored. Congress is being seen among the public as only a ‘supporting’ or ‘B team’ of RJD, due to which the party’s traditional vote bank (upper castes, Muslims and extremely backward classes) is now shifting towards third options like Jan Suraj or NDA. Activists allege that this suicidal policy of taking decisions at the behest of Lalu Awas has completely paralyzed the Congress organization in Bihar, and if even now the central command does not take tough decisions, the party will cease to exist in the state forever.
#1 Emergence of new political options in Bihar: Entry of Jan Suraj and crisis looming over the future of Grand Alliance
One of the biggest messages of these election results is that the enlightened and educated people of Bihar—be it teachers or graduates—are now accepting new options instead of traditional alliances. Jan Suraj Party opening its account by winning the MLC seat in the very first attempt proves that the public is fed up with the old political style of RJD-Congress. These results, which came just before the upcoming assembly elections, are a huge warning for the Grand Alliance. If Congress does not free itself from the political dominance of RJD and the diktats of Lalu Awas and formulate its own independent strategy, then it is certain that Congress will be defeated in the upcoming political battle of Bihar.