"We Were Not Senior Partner": Shashi Tharoor As Congress Flops In Bihar

As Congress failed to perform well in the Bihar Assembly elections, party MP Shashi Tharoor asserted that the grand old party is "not the senior partner", adding that both Congress and Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have to study their performance. LIVE UPDATES

"It's a question of leading at the moment. They are leading by a rather large margin. But let's wait for the Election Commission to discuss and disclose the results. I am sure that the party (Congress) has a responsibility to study in detail the causes. But remember, we were not the senior partner in the alliance, and that RJD also has to look carefully at its own performance. But I will say that on a matter like this, it's very important that we look at the totality of our performance," Tharoor said.

According to him, elections are about a "number of factors".

"There is the question of popular mood, organisational strengths and weaknesses - a lot of issues to be looked at. A lot of things to see what went wrong, what went right. But let's wait for the final results before we make a call," he said.

The Congress MP said that women voters in Bihar were "given incentives" just before the Code of Conduct.

"Whether we like it or not, unfortunately, that is legal under our laws. I am afraid this is not the first time that we have seen state governments doing such things, of giving benefits to certain segments of society. It's not unusual. I don't think it's a healthy practice, but we saw something quite similar in Maharashtra as well as other states in the past. There is a tendency to give some of these rewards before the election. Anyway, let's analyse the results in detail. I think those who are directly involved in the campaign would study it in greater depth," he said.

The Bihar Assembly election results today will determine whether Nitish Kumar - the state's longest-serving chief minister - will retain his position for the fifth consecutive term. Data shows the NDA is leading in more than 200 seats - above the majority mark of 122 seats. While the BJP is ahead in 91 seats, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) is leading in 80 seats. Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is ahead in 21 seats, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha in five, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha in three seats.

The Mahagathbandhan is leading in 36 seats. The Congress, which has had a poor track record in Bihar, has flopped once again in the state that went to polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11. The party is leading in only four seats out of the 61 it contested.

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD had finished as the single-largest party with 75 seats. However, the Congress performed poorly, and the NDA formed the government. Congress, which was allotted 70 seats, won only 19. The Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority in the 243-member Assembly, largely powered by the BJP's 74 seats. JD(U) won 43 seats.