Resurgence by Default? Rise, Fall and Rise of Congress in Bihar

To maintain its winning streak, Congress needs to devise new ways and develop a new breed of leaders in Bihar.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi reacts after the declaration of the Bihar poll results at party headquarters in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

In the post-independence era, when the first assembly election took place in Bihar, the Congress won 239 seats out of a total of 324 constituencies in the undivided state. In 2010, 10 years after Bihar was bifurcated, it touched its rock bottom when it could scrape through in merely four constituencies. Later, it won one more seat in the 2014 bypoll, thereby taking the party tally to five.

From five seats to winning 27 seats this assembly poll, the Congress has not only seen a 500% increase in its tally, it has also infused a new lease of life into a moribund party, which has been out of power in Bihar for the last 25 years. It was Lalu Prasad, who in March 1990 replaced the Jagannath Mishra-headed Congress’ last government here.

Battered and bruised after the October-November 1989 Bhagalpur riots, in which more than 1,000 people lost their lives, the Congress never rode to power again. In 1990, it won only 71 seats, 125 less compared to its tally of 196 in 1985 assembly election.

Congress Strength in 324-Member House:

• 1951: 239
  
• 1957: 250
  
• 1962: 185
  
• 1967: 128
  
• 1969: 118
  
• 1972: 167
  
• 1977: 57
  
• 1980: 169
  
• 1985: 196
  
• 1990: 71
  
• 1995: 29
  
• 2000: 23
  

Post-bifurcation of Bihar (out of 243 seats):

• Nov 2005: 9
  
• Nov 2010: 5 (4+1 in bypoll)
  
• Nov 2015: 27
  

Piggybacking Lalu?

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad flash the victory sign after the Mahagathbandhan’s (Grand Alliance) victory in the Bihar assembly polls at the RJD office in Patna. (Photo: PTI)

In the post-Mandal era, as Lalu’s political fortunes increased by leaps and bounds, the Congress shrunk. By 1995, its strength was reduced to 29, quite less than the BJP which, with 41 members, became the principal opposition party in the assembly.

Gasping for breath, Lalu eventually gave the Congress the much needed resuscitation in March 2000 when he inducted many of the 23 MLAs, who won that year, into the Rabri Devi cabinet. He also made veteran Congressman Sadanand Singh the assembly Speaker. This was the last election in the undivided state before Bihar was bifurcated and Jharkhand carved out of it in November 2000.

Riding piggyback on Lalu, the upper caste-dominated Congress never made a concerted effort to put its house in order. Riven by factionalism, its organisation was not in place. And, above all, it never nurtured an OBC or EBC leader in a caste-ridden state like Bihar.

Having failed to learn from its past mistakes, the Congress’ fortunes nosedived further when it won merely nine seats in 2005, followed by its worst performance in 2010 winning four seats (when it contested alone). Five years later, it was again left to Lalu Prasad, who in 1990 had decimated the Congress, to inject a new lease of life into the grand old party.

This time, the Congress candidates were reportedly selected by Lalu and Nitish and formally transmitted those decisions to the party big-wigs. Even during electioneering, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul addressed six and 10 rallies, respectively. It was virtually left to the two biggies from the Mahagatbandhan – Nitish and Lalu to help the Congress nominees sail through.

Winning 27 seats out of 41 constituencies gives the Congress a good strike rate. But to maintain its winning streak, the party will have to devise a new methodology and develop a new breed of leaders to get a foothold in a state which has seen 20 Congress chief ministers since Independence.

(The writer is a Bihar-based journalist)