Just days after securing a historic victory in the Bihar assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a sharp attack on Congress leader P Chidambaram regarding his column analysing the election results, accusing him of shifting the blame for the Opposition's dismal performance onto the voters of Bihar rather than holding Rahul Gandhi accountable.
Drawing attention to Chidambaram's opinion piece published in an english daily under the title ‘Voting is not the end of responsibilities’, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla argued that the Congress party was avoiding any form of self-reflection and instead choosing to fault the public, or ‘janta’, for their electoral failures.
He emphasised that rather than engaging in introspection, the Congress was once again shielding its leader, whom he referred to as the ‘prince’, by pointing fingers at the electorate. Poonawalla questioned the entitlement and delusion evident in such an approach, quoting Chidambaram's words that it is the responsibility of voters to bring them to power.
In a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, Poonawalla further alleged that the Congress would resort to blaming electronic voting machines, the special intensive revision of voter rolls, or even the people of Bihar itself, but never acknowledge Rahul Gandhi's role in the party's repeated defeats. He went on to accuse the Congress of insulting the state of Bihar with this stance, stating that they refuse to attribute any of the 95 losses under Rahul Gandhi's leadership to him, insisting instead that the public is always at fault.
Moments after his initial criticism, Poonawalla intensified his assault on the Congress by sharing a screenshot of a news report quoting a Trinamool Congress leader who suggested that Mamata Banerjee would be the ideal candidate to lead the INDIA bloc, highlighting that the Congress was facing issues with acceptability and popularity among allies.
He pointed out that even before the upcoming Parliament session, the Trinamool Congress was pushing for a change in the leadership of the INDIA alliance, expressing a lack of confidence in Rahul Gandhi. Poonawalla urged the Congress to wake up and face reality, advising them to stop scapegoating electronic voting machines, the special intensive revision process, or the voters, as Chidambaram had done, and to recognise that the real fault lay with Rahul Gandhi, who had presided over 95 electoral losses, making the Congress a liability for its partners in the INDIA alliance.
Also Read: RJD calls Bihar loss part of ‘endless public service journey’
In his opinion piece, P Chidambaram provided a detailed analysis of the 2025 Bihar assembly polls outcome, where the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party by winning 89 seats, closely followed by its ally the Janata Dal (United) with 85 seats, while the Opposition bloc endured a humiliating defeat, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal reduced to just 25 seats and the Congress managing a paltry six seats.
Chidambaram expressed bewilderment at the voting pattern, noting that given the widespread poverty and massive unemployment in Bihar, there was no clear explanation for why the people voted in the manner they did during the recently concluded elections.
He called on the people of Bihar to re-discover the spirit of the Champaran era, a reference to the historical satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi. Additionally, he described it as unfortunate that Bihar had not voted to install a strong Opposition in the state, asserting that fulfilling this responsibility was even greater than merely exercising the right to vote.
Also Read: New Bihar govt swearing-in at Gandhi Maidan Nov 19/20
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