Patna: The Congress is facing a severe setback in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, with early counting trends placing the party below the CPI(ML) despite contesting more than three times the number of seats. Of the 61 constituencies where it fielded candidates, the party is ahead in only four, matching CPI(ML)’s tally but falling short in political weight, analysts say.
This mirrors the party’s declining influence in the state, where it again appears to be the weakest link in the Grand Alliance.
The biggest blow has come from Kutumba (SC), where Congress state president Rajesh Ram is trailing by 8,977 votes against HAM candidate Lalan Ram. The slide comes even as Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru had attempted a reorganisation of the party’s state leadership and campaign structure.
It is not only Ram who is struggling. Senior leaders Ajit Sharma and Shakeel Ahmad Khan are also trailing in their respective constituencies, compounding the crisis for a party that had aimed to revive its grassroots presence.
Congress had announced 48 candidates in its first list and seven more in a second list, positioning itself around issues such as unemployment, education, agrarian distress and local development. Party strategists had hoped that tighter organisation and direct voter outreach would help recover from its 2020 tally of 19 seats and a 9.48% vote share, but the initial trends suggest otherwise.
Among its key candidates, the party fielded Rajesh Ram in Kutumba, Shakeel Ahmad Khan in Kadwa, Shashwat Kedar Pandey in Narkatiaganj, and Qamrul Hoda in Kishanganj. But the Congress appears unable to capitalise on local dissatisfaction or convert organisational changes into electoral traction.
