Tariq Anwar blames Congress' state unit for poor performance in Bihar elections

Reacting to his party's abysmal performance in the recently-concluded Bihar elections, Congress leader Tariq Anwar on Monday said that the Congress needed to 'introspect its performance in Bihar', adding that it was the responsibility of the 'state unit' to hold accountability for the results. 

"As part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), Congress was allocated 70 of the 243 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. It won 19 seats only. We need to discuss our performance in Bihar. Although, it is not the party's national issue but of Bihar alone. As far as central leadership is concerned, they supported us. It is Bihar leadership's fault for not using opportunity properly," Anwar told news agency ANI.

"We all believe that there is a need for churning. Leaders like us who call themselves leaders of Bihar become the responsibility of them. I also raised the same question in my statement that the state unit of the party should do introspection over its performance," he added.

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Mahagatbandhan on Congress' poor strike rate

RJD has claimed that Congress shackled its alliance, hurting RJD's chances. Earlier on Thursday, Congress' Bihar ally, CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya commented that the strike of the grand old party was low, opining that 70 seats allotted to Congress was excessive.

Lashing out at RJD, Congress' Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil on Monday, claimed that the grand old party had agreed to contest on seats where the alliance had not won in 30 years. 

Meanwhile, Mahagathbandhan's CM face - Tejashwi Yadav refused to comment if Congress pulled down RJD's performance in the polls. Compared to Congress's lowly strike rate of 27.14%, CPI(ML) had an impressive 63% strike rate, which is higher than the single-largest party - RJD (52.03%). Several Congress leaders too had echoed similar sentiments.

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Read: RJD Leader Says 'Congress Shackled Gathbandhan'; Slams Rahul Gandhi's 'picnic' Amid Polls

(With Agency Inputs)