Congress's dismal Bihar poll outing: Are voters not impressed with Rahul Gandhi's ‘yatra’ magic anymore?

The opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance)—comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Left parties, and others—suffered a humiliating defeat in the Bihar assembly elections 2025 results on Friday.

Within this, the Indian National Congress (INC) recorded one of its worst-ever performances in the state, contesting 60-61 seats but leading or winning in just 1-5 as of final trends.

A look at final trends

According to the latest trends from the Election Commission of India, the Indian National Congress is leading in only a few seats across Bihar.

In Valmiki Nagar, Congress candidate Surendra Prasad has secured a total of 97,500 votes. In Chanpatia, Abhishek Ranjan is ahead with 80,554 votes. The party is also performing strongly in Araria, where Abidur Rahman has received 69,512 votes, and in Kishanganj, where Md. Qamrul Hoda has amassed 89,325 votes.

Additionally, in Manihari, candidate Manohar Prasad Singh garnered 84,566 votes, indicating continued pockets of support for the Congress party in the state.

Comparing performance with the 2020 elections, the Congress scored a steep decline from its 19 seats in 2020 (out of 70 contested, with a 9.48-9.6% vote share) and 27 seats in 2015 (out of 41 contested, 6.8-11.11% vote share).

Why voters are not impressed by Rahul Gandhi?

Voter Adhikar Yatra of Rahul Gandhi covered 25 districts (covering 110 assembly segments from Sasaram to Patna). The party targeted alleged “vote theft” via the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming it disenfranchised 1.5 crore voters (mostly the poor/Muslims). The march generated initial buzz but lost steam; the Congress is now trailing in all seats along the route.

Currently, the Congress trails in most yatra-covered seats, with experts noting the “Congress magic” faded quickly in Bihar's competitive landscape, unlike in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where it helped win 41 seats nationally (though only three in Bihar).

However, roadshows with Tejashwi Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi were meant to symbolise opposition unity and energise youth and women voters. Priyanka's rallies focused on women's safety and economic issues, while Tejashwi-Rahul pairings hammered the NDA's “failed promises.”

However, they yielded no lasting boost to the Mahagathbandhan.

Seat-sharing issues between Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav

Talks between Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav repeatedly broke down, resulting in “friendly fights” and cross-contesting in 11 seats, which confused voters and split the anti-NDA vote, ultimately benefiting the BJP and JD(U).

Rahul Gandhi was also largely absent from the campaign for nearly two months in September and October 2025, reportedly upset over ticket distribution that heavily favoured RJD loyalists.

It's worth noting that Bihar recorded a historic 67.13% voter turnout, the highest since 1951, with women voters outpacing men (71.6% vs 62.8%).

Bihar has an electorate of over 7.45 crore. With 66.91% voter turnout, it was the highest since the first Bihar elections in 1951. Bihar has 3.93 crore male electors and 3.51 female voters – a gap of 42.34 lakh. This time, Bihar recorded the highest female voter turnout in its history..

In 2020, about 7,06,252 people chose the NOTA option in the assembly election, which worked out to 1.68 per cent of the total votes polled.

(With inputs from agencies)