Tridib Raman
Even though Nitish Kumar has taken the oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time with full pomp and circumstance, it is believed that given his health reasons, his Chief Ministerial journey this time will only cover half the distance. Reliable sources claim that just before Nitish’s swearing-in ceremony, three prominent JDU leaders suddenly arrived in Delhi on a special flight, where an important meeting with PM Modi had already been scheduled. It is also being said that this JDU trio (Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh, Sanjay Jha, and Manish Verma) who was once counted among Nitish’s most trusted bureaucrats, headed straight from the airport to the PM’s residence. There, an agreement was reached that this time, despite being the largest party (89 seats) in the NDA alliance, the BJP would agree to let Nitish take the oath as Chief Minister; in return, the BJP would wait for two and a half years. After two and a half years, Bihar will have the BJP’s own Chief Minister, and Nitish will be honoured with a major constitutional post (President or Vice-President) in Delhi. After this, these JDU leaders spoke to Nitish from there itself about this BJP proposal. It is said that Nitish readily agreed to this formula. He just put forth one small condition from his side: that the BJP would not make this mutually agreed formula public for now, otherwise Nitish’s grip on the administration would weaken. The BJP has also gladly accepted Nitish’s wish.
What did Kharge say to Sonia regarding Rahul?
Tridib Raman
The election results from Bihar have raised the political temperature within the Congress to new heights. As soon as the electoral picture in Bihar began to clear on November 14, a surprised and troubled Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge called Sonia Gandhi. According to sources, when Sonia came on the line, she sounded deeply disappointed. She immediately said to Kharge, “We worked so hard in Bihar. We did not expect such results. How did this happen?” Kharge responded humbly, “I have been with the Congress since Indira ji’s time, but I have never felt the way I do now. Rahul ji barely manages to give us even 15 minutes; even senior leaders like us must coordinate everything through his office. When he began his ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, I felt from the outset that he should have started it only after taking Tejashwi into confidence, but that did not happen. Our tensions with the RJD kept growing. As the election dates got closer, people began to sense that relations between the Congress and the RJD were strained.” Kharge continued, “When Rahul ji created momentum through his yatra, I told him, ‘This is the time to finalize seat-sharing with Tejashwi and announce our candidates, so they have enough time to campaign.’ But Rahul ji left for South America without giving us any answer. When I called him there, he said he would return in five days, but he came back only after 17 full days. And for two days after returning, he didn’t take anyone’s calls. His office told us he was still suffering from jet lag. Meanwhile, we kept waiting, wondering when we would be able to finalize our list for Bihar so that the Congress could aim higher in the elections.”
The Matter of Allavaru
Tridib Raman
If sources are to be believed, Congress President Kharge’s pain regarding Rahul had become so profound that he continued his conversation unabated with Sonia Gandhi on the phone. Kharge reportedly said, “I come from Karnataka, and Krishna Allavaru is also from my home region. But before appointing Allavaru as the in-charge for Bihar, Rahul ji did not consult me even once. Had he asked, I would have already made him aware of Allavaru’s real character. Allavaru damaged Congress’s relations with the Lalu family, faced allegations of selling tickets, and was even chased away by Congress workers at the Patna airport.” Kharge then told Sonia, “If we were contesting 58 seats, Rahul ji and Priyanka ji should have campaigned in at least 45 of them. But at the crucial moment, Rahul ji’s office finalized that he would address only 11 rallies and Priyanka ji just 6.” Kharge continued, “Then Rahul ji’s office said that the campaign expenses for our candidates in Seemanchal should be handed directly to Pappu Yadav. But has anyone verified to this day how much of that money actually reached our candidates?” When the Bihar elections ended, instead of gauging the political temperature, Rahul ji went off to Abu Dhabi. It is said that immediately after this, Sonia called Rahul in Abu Dhabi, gave him a strong reprimand, and asked him to return to Delhi at once. According to sources, Rahul caught a flight that very night and returned to Delhi, and the next morning he went straight to Kharge’s residence to meet him. It is said that Rahul apologized to the senior party leader and told him that he should begin strategizing right away for the upcoming West Bengal and Assam elections. Rahul assured him that this time he would make no mistakes and that no major decision would be taken without keeping Kharge fully in the loop.
BJP will Identify ‘Jaichands’
Tridib Raman
Despite securing a sweeping victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP continues to deliberate over the seats it lost. This, even though the party’s strike rate in the election reached a record high of nearly 90 percent. Sources associated with the party reveal that on several seats in the Seemanchal region, the BJP became a victim of internal sabotage; the Sangh largely shares the same assessment. Party strategists believe that there were constituencies in Seemanchal where BJP workers did not transfer votes to their alliance partner, the JDU, as expected. In this context, the Araria parliamentary region is being viewed with particular scrutiny. Araria’s BJP MP, Pradeep Singh, belongs to the extremely backward ‘Gangai’ community. Reports indicate that on some seats under this parliamentary constituency, Pradeep Singh could not get tickets for his preferred people; for instance, the Forbesganj assembly seat can be cited. Here, despite Hindu-Muslim polarization, the saffron party had remained unbeaten for a long time. The MP wanted to get a ticket for his close friend (who is also considered his business partner), but the party repeated its two-time winning MLA, Vidyasagar Kesri from here. As a result, the MP neither attended Kesari’s nomination nor showed much interest in campaigning for him. It is said that some of his close aides even adopted a rebellious attitude, leading to the BJP losing the Forbesganj seat to Congress by a margin of just 221 votes. Meanwhile, the Araria seat, which is also the MP’s home turf, was lost by JDU’s Shagufta Azim to Congress’s Abidur Rahman by 12,741 votes. The Raniganj seat was also lost by JDU to RJD by 8,530 votes. The Jokihat seat was decisively won by Owaisi’s party, which defeated JDU by a large margin of 28,803 votes. Owaisi retained this seat of his. Until now, Pradeep Singh had been lobbying to become a minister in the Modi cabinet under the Extremely Backward Classes quota. However, given the current mood of senior BJP and Sangh leaders, it appears that the party intends to sideline him in the coming days. This could effectively shatter all his hopes of becoming a minister.
What was Discussed between Akhilesh and Stalin?
After the recent results of the Bihar elections, a period of intense churn has also begun in the politics of the INDIA alliance. Immediately after the results, SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav had a long conversation with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Assembly elections are also due in Tamil Nadu in the coming months (April-May 2026), so Stalin wanted Akhilesh to also come to Tamil Nadu for election campaigning because a large number of North Indians reside in the state. And in this Bihar election too, the public meetings addressed by Akhilesh attracted good crowds. In his conversation, Stalin also appeared very serious regarding Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. He believed that the hard work put in by Rahul Gandhi in Bihar did not get converted into votes. Stalin was also concerned that Muslim voters became disillusioned with the Congress in Bihar and moved towards Owaisi’s party, AIMIM. Here, not only did 5 of Owaisi’s candidates win, but his candidates stood second on 9 seats. It is said that Stalin told Akhilesh that his alliance with the Congress would remain intact for the Tamil Nadu elections, but he has told his cadre not to depend too much on the Congress in the elections. Akhilesh also made it clear to Stalin that he too is perplexed regarding the Congress. In the recent Bihar elections, the Congress’s strike rate was only around 10 percent, which was 27 percent last time. Muslim voters are also not able to show their complete trust in the Congress, so it will become difficult for them to accommodate the Congress in the alliance for the 2027 elections. Because the Congress is demanding at least 100 seats in the upcoming UP elections, and they (SP) are thinking of leaving 30-35 seats for the Congress. However, Akhilesh has a feeling that the Congress will not agree to so few seats. This is the reason why he feels that he might have to fight the next UP election without the Congress. Apart from this, Akhilesh raised a pertinent point with Stalin. He said that given how the votes of the upper castes have consolidated in favor of the NDA alliance in the recent Bihar elections, he has given very clear instructions to his party leaders that, come what may, they must refrain from making any unwarranted statements against the upper castes in the state. Stalin could not express his agreement on this point because the entire axis of Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu is based on opposition to the upper castes.
Operation Lotus Blooming? Congress on the Brink
Prime Minister Modi has already predicted a major split in the Congress. Currently, a period of intense turmoil is ongoing in mainstream Congress politics. Its reverberations can also be felt in Congress-ruled states. It is being reported that in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar are once again face to face. It appears Siddaramaiah has rejected the formula of a 2.5-year power-sharing arrangement. He is now digging in his heels, stating that he will complete his full five-year term. Meanwhile, DK has startled Delhi by declaring that all 140 MLAs in Karnataka are his MLAs, and that forming groups is “not in their blood.” Furthermore, during a review meeting in Delhi concerning the Bihar defeat, senior leader Digvijaya Singh took a jab at Mukul Wasnik, saying, “What do you know about ground reality? You probably don’t even know what a BLO is.” Senior leaders’ barbs continue to target Rahul Gandhi’s favored aides, such as KC Venugopal and Ajay Maken. Some party satraps are exploring the possibility of forming a new party called the “Real Congress.” Simultaneously, a large section of leaders displeased with Rahul, such as Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Karti Chidambaram, are said to be “illuminated by the saffron aura.”
