‘Will continue our fight against forces weakening democracy’: Mallikarjun Kharge accepts people’s mandate in Bihar

NEW DELHI: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accepted people’s mandate in the Bihar Assembly election and vowed to continue the party’s fight against “forces that are engaged in weakening democracy.”

In a post on X, the Congress President stated that the party will assess the reasons behind its defeat in the election.

“We respect the decision of the people of Bihar and will continue our fight against those forces that are engaged in weakening democracy by misusing constitutional institutions. We will conduct a thorough study of the election results and will present a detailed perspective after understanding the reasons for the outcomes,” he said.

Kharge further expressed gratitude to the people who support the Mahagathbandhan. He also asked the party workers not to be “discouraged” after the result.

“We are deeply grateful from the bottom of our hearts to those voters in Bihar who supported the Mahagathbandhan, I want to tell every Congress worker that there is no need for you to feel discouraged. You are our pride, honour, and glory. Your hard work is our strength,” he said.

हम बिहार की जनता के फ़ैसले का सम्मान करते हुए, ऐसी ताक़तों के खिलाफ़ अपनी लड़ाई जारी रखेंगे जो संवैधानिक संस्थाओं का दुरुपयोग कर, लोकतंत्र को कमज़ोर करने में जुटी हैं।

हम चुनाव के परिणामों का गहराई से अध्ययन करेंगे और नतीजों के कारणों को समझने के बाद विस्तृत बात रखेंगे।

बिहार…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) November 14, 2025

“We will leave no stone unturned in raising awareness among the people. We will continue the struggle to save the Constitution and democracy by staying among the people. This fight is long – and we will fight it with complete dedication, courage, and truth,” he added.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that the Bihar Assembly election was “unfair from the beginning” after the party failed to hit double digits despite contesting on 61 seats.

Rahul 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.”

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “I express my heartfelt gratitude to those millions of voters in Bihar who expressed their trust in the Mahagathbandhan. This result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning.”

“This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy. The Congress Party and the INDIA alliance will deeply review this result and make their efforts to save democracy even more effective,” he added.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a historic win in the Bihar Assembly polls as the alliance secured more than 195 seats in the elections.
As of the latest figures, the NDA has secured 198 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan has won 33 seats.

As per the latest data, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the single largest party with 88 seats, followed closely by the Janata Dal (United), which has secured 83 seats.

From within the NDA, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has also delivered a notable performance by winning 18 seats out of the 29 seats it contested.

For the Mahagathbandha, RJD has secured 24 seats, while the Indian National Congress has so far managed to secure just 6 seats. (ANI)