Rahul Gandhi arrives at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence after MGB’s dismal Bihar performance

NEW DELHI: In the aftermath of the Mahagathbandhan’s heavy defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi. The meeting is expected to focus on assessing the party’s poor performance in the state.

Earlier on Friday, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Bihar Assembly election was “unfair from the beginning” after the party failed to secure double digits despite contesting on 61 seats. In the 2020 Bihar elections, the Congress party won 19 out of the 70 seats it contested.

Gandhi said that the party will review its performance after the election and assured that Congress will continue to “fight for the protection of the Constitution and democracy.”

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh blamed “vote chori” for Mahagathbandhan’s defeat, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission “masterminds” behind it.

He said that Congress remain committed to its campaign to “protect the Constitution and save democracy.”

Congress’ troubles in Bihar persisted in the 2025 polls, with the party winning only six of the 60 seats it contested–an unimpressive conversion rate of less than 10 per cent. Their ally in the Mahagathbandhan, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), secured just 25 seats, bringing the alliance’s total to 35 in the 243-member Assembly.

Meanwhile, the NDA registered a historic landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar Elections, winning 202 of the 243 seats in the state. The ruling alliance secured a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House. This is the second time the NDA has crossed the 200 mark in the assembly polls. In the 2010 polls, it had won 206 seats.

#WATCH | Delhi: Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi arrives at the residence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. pic.twitter.com/giDFkbPIXj

— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2025

In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.

Other Mahagathbandhan parties, including Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) – CPI(ML)(L), Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI(M) secured two, one and one seats respectively. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won five seats, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got one seat.

The Bihar assembly elections were conducted across two phases on November 6 and 11, respectively. Bihar recorded a historic 67.13% voter turnout, the highest since 1951, with women voters outpacing men (71.6% vs 62.8%).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the NDA’s sweeping victory in Bihar has paved the way for the BJP in next year’s assembly elections. He said the party will end “jungle raj” in West Bengal.

Addressing a victory function at the party’s headquarters here, PM Modi took several jibes at Congress and RJD following the results of the Bihar polls in which the two parties were decimated.

The PM referred to some states and union territories where the BJP has never formed a government of its own and said the massive victory in Bihar has infused party workers in Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal with new energy. (ANI)