New Delhi: The Congress is showing a poor strike rate in the Bihar assembly elections, dragging down the overall tally of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan (MGB).
As of 7 pm Tuesday, the Congress has won two seats and leading on just 18 others — out of the total of 70 seats it fielded candidates on. The RJD, however, has won eight and is leading in 70 others of the 144 seats it contested.
This brings the Congress’ current strike rate to 28 per cent, while RJD is performing much better at 54 per cent.
Several commentators had earlier claimed that the RJD was generous in its ticket distribution to the Congress, giving it more seats than the party deserved. However, the party leadership had dismissed the allegations, saying it will perform well on all the seats.
Congress’ Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil had told ThePrint that the Congress did not get the kind of seats it wanted.
“It’s true that we didn’t get all the seats we wanted. But this is dilon ka milan, not dalon ka milan (This is a meeting of hearts, not of parties). Which is why despite not having all the seats of our liking, I am sure the Mahagathbandhan will do well,” Gohil had said.
Also read: BJP nears sweep in UP bypolls, Yogi Adityanath gets big boost 15 months before next elections
Blame on AIMIM
However, after the poor performance Tuesday, the Congress leaders seemed to be putting the blame on Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) for “cutting” the party’s votes.
“BJP’s tact of using Owaisi Sahab’s party in the Bihar elections has succeeded to an extent. All secular parties should be alert about vote cutter Owaisi Sahab,” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
BJP's tact of using (Asaduddin) Owaisi Sahab's party in the Bihar elections has succeeded to an extent. All secular parties should be alert about vote cutter Owaisi Sahab: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury #BiharElectionResults pic.twitter.com/r1zMdmhywj
— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2020
The AIMIM has fielded candidates on 20 seats, out of which it is leading in five.
While Chowdhury accused Owaisi of denting the Congress’ vote share, another member of Congress blamed the free Covid-19 vaccine promised by the BJP. Archana Dalmia claimed in a tweet that the “poor Bihari got greedy about the free vaccine and got carried away”.
"लगता है गरीब बिहारी मुफ्त वैक्सीन के लालच के चक्कर में आ गए है"
— Archana Dalmia (@ArchanaDalmia) November 10, 2020
The BJP, in its manifesto, had promised free Covid vaccine to Bihar if elected to power.
The NDA is currently leading on 119 seats while the MGB is leading in 116 seats, as the Bihar election results continued to see-saw.
Also read: Bihar still a nailbiter, but BJP leads bypolls in 11 states, ahead of rivals in 40 of 58 seats
asduddin owaisi is here to stay. if at all he is going to be more aggressive in future. this will definitely eat into congress’s vote bank. probably heralding the end of the congress with gandhi family at the helm.
Joining hands with congress is bad for its’ friend’s health. So opposition parties too should work for Congress-mukt Bharat. Congress is worse than tail end batsmen, when it comes to success rate vis a vis number of seats contested.