New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) As early trends in the Bihar Assembly elections point to a poor performance by the Congress, senior party leader and former Governor Nikhil Kumar, on Friday, openly criticised the party’s poll preparedness, organisational weaknesses, and candidate selection strategy.

His remarks come at a time when the ruling NDA is marching ahead in the count, leaving the Mahagathbandhan, of which Congress is a key constituent, struggling to keep pace.

Speaking candidly about the party’s shortcomings to IANS, Nikhil Kumar said, “This reflects the weakness of our organisation. In any election, a political party relies on its organisational strength. If the organisation is weak and cannot function effectively, the overall outcome suffers.”

The veteran leader further stressed that inadequate groundwork and poor strategic planning worsened the Congress’ position on the ground. He added, “Our candidates are all very capable, but even better candidates could have been chosen. The organisation should have worked strategically, intelligently and maintained a strong presence across all constituencies.”

He also pointed to internal lapses in coordination and inclusivity, suggesting that the leadership failed to bring diverse voices into the decision-making process.

According to him, several “good candidates” were overlooked in favour of those he termed “incompetent”, a move that, he suggested, weakened the party’s competitiveness in key seats.

Kumar’s remarks come at a critical juncture, as the counting of votes for all 243 Assembly seats is underway across Bihar.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) began the counting process at 8 a.m. with postal ballots, followed by Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes at 8.30 a.m. Multi-tier security arrangements have been deployed at 46 counting centres across 38 districts.

According to the ECI’s trends around midday, the NDA had surged past the 122-seat majority mark, leading in over 150 seats, with the BJP and JD(U) showing particularly strong performances. In contrast, the Congress, part of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, was trailing far behind, with its candidates leading only in a handful of constituencies.

The Congress party’s struggles in Bihar are not new, but Kumar’s unusually blunt assessment underscores deepening concerns within the party over organisational stagnation, ineffective booth-level mobilisation, and an inability to read the shifting political mood.

With final results expected later on Friday, Kumar’s criticism is likely to intensify internal discussions on restructuring the party machinery, reassessing leadership roles, and rebuilding ground-level engagement ahead of future electoral battles.

–IANS

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