Congress Should Go The Whole Hog With Its Ally RJD In Coming Bihar Polls

There’s this theory going around that the Congress, wherever it has fought elections in recent years, from Haryana to Maharashtra, and now Bihar in the offing, it fought with its INDIA bloc allies more than with the BJP, the party to beat if the INDIA Bloc has to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power, which is what’s indispensable.

What formula is this, is this strategy or tactic? Why suddenly send signals that Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal is equally an opponent as the BJP/JDU and ChiragPaswan’s fledgling outfit? The Congress should be counting its blessings that it has friends in the right place, meaning Bihar, the electorate of the state had for all purposes, given up on the Grand Old Party.

It’s been a losing time since the Congress ruled the roost in Bihar and it’s about time the party showed signs of revival, which it can do with help from allies, especially The Rashtriya Janata Dal, Everybody knows Lalu Prasad Yadav practically eats out of the hands of the ‘Gandhi Family’ and has sworn that his goal is to make Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister.

Yet, there appears to be a reluctance in the Gandhi Parivar which is reflected in the “reversal in its attitude towards both foes and friends,” says one political analyst of the rightwing bent of mind . He cites Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar as a success but insists that it left Congress allies disappointed.

For them, the yatra was only that of the Congress to own and fete. Rahul Gandhi’s refusal to endorse Tejashwi Yadav for Chief Minister is apparent. Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan was a given, why was Rahul Gandhi acting like he did not agree. Tejashwi Yadav wasn’t opposing Rahul Gandhi’s ambition.

Does the Congress fear supporting Tejashwi Yadav for ‘Chief Minister’ might harm its own chances in garnering votes, perhaps dent its own performance among certain castes/votebanks? Maybe the Congress is targeting a bigger and varied umbrella of votes. How about the upper-caste vote bank?

Besides, there is Tejashwi Yadav’s image. He is an accused in 35 cases, which reminds of the fodder scam and Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Congress has enough such problems to saddle more. For the entire Mahagathbandhan to be termed a criminal enterprise isn’t going to help either party.

How many seats is the Congress expecting from the coalition? Grapevine says the Congress expects at least 70 seats. The RJD, however, won’t spare as many and believes the assembly elections are not the same as a general election.

Also, there is a communication gap between the Congress and the RJD. If one is elitist in both outlook and within, the other is castebound and vastly more grassroots. At least that is the perception. The castes of the RJD had long ago junked the Congress.

The communication gap has ensured neither Tejashwi Yadav nor Rahul Gandhi get to come down to real-time negotiations. The ends are not tied. And if the RJD considers itself “senior partner”, the same is not appreciated by the “junior partner”.

There’s also talk that the Congress wanted the expansion of the Mahagathbandhan, a tug of war which it lost, actually a “survival tool” as seen by the party high-command. The Mahagathbandhan resisted and “other coalition partners on board” was a non-starter.

The RJD-Congress alliance is 25 years old ally. Yet Lalu Yadav’s RJD is in direct contest with the Congress in several assembly constituencies and there’s been a continuous tussle between the two parties for the coveted Muslim vote bank. For the 2025 assembly elections at least this is something that stands in the way of smooth relations.

After so long in political wilderness, Bharat’s grand old party is hungry to return to power at the Centre and for that to happen, the party has to build up in all parts for the sum of the parts is what makes up the whole. The Congress can give no party the edge, neither foe nor friend, it would amount to committing harakiri.

Final thought, this may be the reason why the Congress appeared to have been fighting the BJP in Haryana, Maharashtra and seemingly so in Bihar, too, but was also not fully in cahoots with allies in the INDIA bloc. The Congress cannot but decide its ties with other opposition parties as time is running out and if Bihar is lost, that will be one less nail available to drive into the pine box. (IPA Service)