Bihar Assembly elections: CPI(M) in Kerala blames Congress for ‘failing to unite’ anti-BJP forces

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat in Kerala has squarely blamed the Congress leadership for dismally failing to cobble together a broad-based coalition of secular, democratic and regional parties to thwart the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance’s march to victory in the Bihar Assembly elections. 

CPI(M) State secretary M V Govindan told a press conference on Saturday (November 15, 2025) that had the Congress taken the responsibility to retard the NDA in Bihar seriously and with tactical diligence, the electoral picture in the State would have been starkly different. 

He said the Congress ill-advisedly undermined the chances of anti-BJP parties, including regional outfits, by fielding candidates in what it termed “friendly matches”. 

For one, Mr Govindan pointed out that Congress fielded candidates in four seats where the Communist Party of India (CPI), an INDIA bloc ally, was contesting. “In one constituency, the votes polled by CPI and Congress candidates surpassed that garnered by the NDA candidate by a wide margin”, he said. 

Rebel menace

Mr Govindan stated that the Congress’ candidate selection was riven by regional feuding, resulting in “a rebel menace” in scores of winnable constituencies, further advantaging the BJP by splitting anti-incumbency votes.

Mr Govindan singled out the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, [Organisation], for blame. 

“Mr Venugopal, who is second only to President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in the AICC hierarchy, forsook his Bihar responsibility to feverishly carve a leadership niche for himself in Kerala politics, by intervening incessantly in provincial politics ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, giving national issues the go-by”, he stated.

Mr Govindan said it was not too late for the Congress leadership to analyse the poll defeat and correct course. 

Mr Govindan stated that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had advantaged the NDA by employing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list to “disenfranchise” an estimated 65 lakhs to one crore voters in Bihar.

“Unaccounted election spending powered by black money, mishandling of electronic vote machines (EVM), and a vicious communal campaign aligned with identitarian politics rather than broad-based livelihood issues, catalysed by brazen abuse of power, supercharged the NDA’s election juggernaut in Bihar,” Mr Govindan said.

Mr Govindan accused the ECI of disregarding what he termed “unabashed code-of-conduct violations” by the Nitish Kumar government. 

“For one, the NDA government made a one-time payment of ₹10,000 to voters after the model code of conduct came into force. The government beguiled voters by falsely claiming that the allowance is monthly. In contrast, the ECI struck down a similar move by an incumbent government in Tamil Nadu decades ago”, he added.