By Nanditha Subhadra
The Bihar Assembly election of 2025 is over, and the message from the people is brutally clear: voters reward delivery, not drama; governance, not gimmicks; presence, not periodic parachute visits. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has stormed past the 200-seat mark in the 243-member House — BJP 93, JD(U) 83, allies adding the rest — in what is being called the most decisive mandate in Bihar in decades. The Mahagathbandhan lies in tatters: RJD reduced to 26 seats, Congress scraping together a humiliating 5-6, and the rest scattered like confetti after a party nobody attended.
This is not just an NDA victory. It is a Congress catastrophe — and, more specifically, a Rahul Gandhi catastrophe. The NDA should send Rahul a thank-you hamper. His casual, almost contemptuous approach to politics, combined with the Congress party’s terminal inability to learn any lesson, has once again dragged an entire opposition alliance into the abyss.
Bihar’s voters did not fall for sermons on “vote chori” or constitutional peril. They looked at their bank accounts, their daughters’ school scholarships, and the ₹10,000+ that landed regularly in women’s Jan Dhan accounts through a combination of state and central schemes. Women turnout crossed 68% — the highest ever — and they voted en masse for the alliance that actually delivered cash, cycles, toilets, electricity, and roads. Nitish Kumar’s painstaking, boring, incremental governance — derided as “sushasan” by detractors — suddenly looked like gold when Tejashwi Yadav’s fiery speeches and Rahul Gandhi’s occasional fly-ins offered nothing tangible in return.
The ₹10,000 direct transfers to women (expanded under Nitish’s schemes and amplified by central programmes) became the silent game-changer. While Rahul Gandhi jetted off abroad during the crucial campaign phase, women in rural Bihar were receiving alerts on their phones: money in the account, no middlemen, no forms. That is delivery. That is what wins elections.
Rahul Gandhi: The Part-Time Revolutionary
Rahul Gandhi arrived in Bihar, held a few rallies, shouted about EVMs and “vote chori,” drew decent crowds, and then — as is now ritual — disappeared. Abroad during the most intense phase of campaigning. Again. Sources close to the Congress privately admit he was barely involved after the first 10 days. State leaders begged for his presence in the final fortnight; they got Instagram stories from foreign locations instead.
This is not a one-off. It is who he is: a leader who treats Indian politics like a gap year — intense bursts of activity followed by long retreats. He picks an issue (caste census, vote chori, Adani, farm laws), milks it for headlines, and abandons it the moment it requires sustained, grinding organisational work. Bihar’s voters noticed. They always do.
Congress: A Party That Refuses to Learn
The Congress contested 27 seats and is winning five. That is a strike rate of under 20% — worse than many independents. In seat after seat, Congress candidates became the splitters who gifted victory to the NDA. In at least a dozen constituencies, the Congress vote share was just enough to eat into RJD margins and let BJP or JD(U) sail through. Tejashwi Yadav fought like a man possessed, criss-crossing the state, promising 10 lakh jobs again. He deserved better allies.
Instead he got a Congress high command that imposed candidates from Delhi, ignored local sentiment, and treated Bihar as a side quest. KC Venugopal and the usual coterie decided everything from ticket distribution to campaign scheduling — the same formula that has destroyed the party in Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Odisha, and now Bihar. Internal bickering, sulking state leaders, and zero accountability: the Congress remains a party of entitlement, not energy.
The Mahagathbandhan was always an uneasy marriage. But everyone knew the weakest link was Congress. RJD workers openly grumbled that Congress candidates were “NDA agents in disguise.” When the results came in, those grumbles turned into howls. The alliance lost at least 15-20 seats directly because of Congress’s abysmal performance and poorer coordination. The INDIA bloc, already fragile, now has a Bihar-sized hole in its credibility, courtesy of the party that claims to be its anchor.
A Party on the Path to Perish
There will be the usual post-mortem meetings in 24 Akbar Road. There will be statements about “introspection.” And nothing will change. Rahul Gandhi will not confront the sycophants who shield him from reality. The high command will not decentralise power. State units will remain starved of funds and autonomy. And the next election — whenever and wherever it is — will follow the same script.
Bihar 2025 is not an aberration. It is the new normal for the Congress: a party that has forgotten how to fight elections, how to build organisations, how to stay relevant. Unless something seismic happens — and history says it won’t — the Congress is not just declining; it is choosing extinction.
The NDA is celebrating tonight. They know exactly whom they have to thank.
