Rahul Gandhi’s big bet before Bihar elections-Is everything right in RJD-Congress?: Rahul-Gandhi-OBC-RELY-BIHAR-2025- Election-Strategy
The preparations for the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 have intensified the beats of political parties, and meanwhile Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s growing intervention in Bihar has become the center of discussions. Rahul Gandhi will again reach Nalanda on 6 June, where he will address the OBC-BC conference. The tour is his sixth visit to Bihar in the last five months, which indicates the Congress’ serious preparation and the changed strategy.
However, this time the matter is not just about one tour – but the question is arising whether this sharp activity of Rahul Gandhi reflects distance from his coalition partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Tejashwi Yadav, or the Congress is now on the path of its independent political identity in Bihar?
Congress strategy in OBC-BC stronghold Nalanda
Nalanda, which is the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is socially a strong basis of OBC and EBC voters. The share of these classes in the total population of Bihar is about 36%, which is considered the key to power in any election. This journey of Rahul Gandhi is associated with campaigns like ‘Stop escape, Job Do’ and ‘Education Justice Dialogue’, which aims to attract youth, Dalits and extreme backward to Congress.
From the platform of this conference held in Rajgir, Rahul Gandhi will directly target the policies of the Nitish Kumar government. Through issues like employment crisis, plight of education and social justice, they will not only try to communicate with the people, but would also like to underline the usefulness of the Congress in the Grand Alliance.
Congress’s changing face: from partnership to autonomy
In the 2020 assembly elections, the Congress contested 70 seats as part of the Grand Alliance, but could win just 19 seats. Since then, RJD had called the Congress a weak link to the alliance. Now Rahul Gandhi’s frequent Bihar visits and efforts focused on OBC-BC classes are an indication that the Congress does not now want to become ‘follower’, but wants to make its own political identity.
Stress from Tejashwi and Burglary in Nitish’s vote bank
The tussle between Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi is no longer hidden from anyone. If sources are to be believed, Tejashwi is not in favor of giving Congress more than 30 to 40 seats this time. At the same time, the Congress does not want to keep its strategy dependent on RJD this time. Recently there was a dispute over Tejashwi’s ‘My-Behin Mann Yojana’ promoting the Congress under its banner, which made public the increasing tension inside the Grand Alliance.
Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Nalanda shows that the Congress is now directly targeting Nitish Kumar’s traditional OBC-BC vote bank. While Tejashwi Yadav is also trying to strengthen his penetration in this category by recognizing the toddy industry. In such a situation, the unity of the grand alliance may be in danger with this tussle of vote bank.
Will this ‘flight’ of Congress become a boon or disaster?
Political analysts believe that this aggressive strategy of the Congress may be able to give it a new identity in Bihar, but this experiment can also weaken the fabric of the grand alliance. In 2020, the way the RJD was damaged by cutting the Muslim votes of AIMIM, the same situation may arise from the lack of coordination between the Congress and the RJD.
Rahul Gandhi’s OBC-BC-focused strategy also shows that the Congress now wants to move beyond the Muslim-Yadav (My) equation to form a big social alliance, in which Dalits, Backward and Youth are in the leading role. But will this independent path really be able to establish the Congress in Bihar, or will it give an unexpected advantage to the NDA by creating a rift in relationships with RJD? The answer will be revealed in the coming election months.
