Kerala local body polls: Congress attempts to brush aside the Bihar election blues

Hoping to make a political comeback in Kerala, the Congress is trying to shake off the election blues in Bihar and bounce back as crucial local elections are fast approaching.

While Bihar’s poll results did not have a direct impact on the Congress and its allies in the state, the election debacle had a dampening effect on the enthusiasm of party workers.

The State leadership of the party is quick to forget Mahagathbandhan’s humiliating defeat in Bihar and prefers to focus on electioneering.

The results, which came at a time when the Congress and its allies were preparing for the local elections, called the semi-finals of the 2026 Assembly elections, were discouraging for the party base, senior officials of the party admitted.

“It is quite natural for party workers to be demoralized after the party’s failure in one of the crucial elections. But the despair will quickly fade away and the party will emerge ready to take on its political rivals,” hoped a former KPCC chairman.

leadership failures

However, a senior MP from the state, who preferred not to be quoted, accused the party leadership, both in the state and at the centre, of failing to organize at the grassroots level even after a series of setbacks.

“After every election fiasco, the party would make a statement saying that it would carry out an introspection and make course corrections, which never happens. This is not huge committees of KPCC general secretaries and secretaries, but revitalizing the organization at lower levels, which will ultimately benefit the organisation,” he suggested.

The final defeat caused serious concerns about the political future of the organization in the minds of ordinary workers.

Conflict for CM’s post

At the same time, there are at least three candidates for the post of Prime Minister who are active in the party and focus solely on appointing and placing their supporters in key organizational posts rather than mobilizing the organization to face political challenges. He suggested that in order to survive and return to power, the party must come up with campaigns that will directly impact people’s lives.

A senior party leader conceded that if the grand alliance had managed to defeat the NDA in Bihar, it would have surely boosted the party’s shares at the national level and left a rousing impact on the organization in the US.

Opposition parties, including the CPI(M) and the BJP, wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation and writing off the party as a spent force.

As news of the alliance’s resounding victory began to trickle in, enthusiastic BJP workers also held victory rallies across the state.

A member of the Political Bureau of the CPI(M), which is also a part of the Mahagathbandhan, noted: Vote for Chori Although the campaign led by Rahul Gandhi created the impression that it would make an impact at the ballot box, it could not garner enough voter support.

He said the Bihar debacle had done enough damage to the Congress at the national level.

Rethinking strategy

CPI General Secretary Binoy Viswom suggests that the Bihar results will help the Congress rethink its political strategy of defining Left parties as its bete noire and aligning with social organizations of all stripes to defeat Left parties.

However, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said the Bihar result had warned the party to be careful about possible manipulations in the election process.

There is a general feeling in the party that the Bihar results were manipulated and elections in the state were not conducted freely and fairly. Mr. Satheesan said that in the meeting of Congress leaders held on Monday, it was decided to remain vigilant to prevent such possible manipulations in Kerala.

BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar thinks the Bihar results will have implications in Kerala too; He followed the Bihar model of politics which, according to him, caused great harm to the people of Kerala and resulted in missed opportunities for its people.

The Congress in Kerala is dependent on anti-democratic radical organizations for its survival. After Bihar, Kerala too will signal the end of Congress-style politics. He said the people of Kerala expect politics to be a contest based on development ideas and performance rather than what has been practiced by the Congress for the last 60 years.

It was published – 18 November 2025 09:36 IST