Congress Contested More Seats Than Its Organizational Strength in Bihar, Says Chidambaram as Party Infighting Continues

New Delhi: In wake of Congress’s dismal performance in the Bihar Assembly elections as well as the string of bypolls, P Chidambaram remarked that the party has either no organisational presence on the ground or it has weakened considerably. The truth-bombs by the party’s senior leader also came as the Congress infighting continued following Kapil Sibal’s criticism.

Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, Chidambaram said that Congress contested more seats than its organisational strength in the recently-concluded Bihar polls. “I feel the Congress contested more seats than its organizational strength. The Congress was given 25 seats where the BJP or its allies had been winning for 20 years. The Congress should have refused to contest from these seats. The party should have fielded only 45 candidates.”

“In Bihar, the RJD-Congress had a chance of winning. Why we lost despite being so close to victory is something that needs comprehensive review. Remember, not long ago the Congress had won Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand,” he said.

“I am more worried about the by-poll results in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. These results show that the party either has no organisational presence on the ground or has been weakened considerably,” NDTV quoted the former finance minister as telling Dainik Bhaskar.

Chidambaram’s comments came in the backdrop of Sibal criticising the Congress leadership for the party’s abysmal performance in the Bihar elections, where it bagged only 19 of the 70 seats it contested.

Sibal was also a part of a group of 23 senior Congress leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in August, giving suggestions on ways to revive the grand old party.

Earlier, Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had criticised Sibal, saying his statements had hurt the sentiments of party workers across the country.

Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had Wednesday slammed Sibal over his Bihar poll debacle introspection remark, saying those unhappy with the party’s functioning are free to leave instead of embarrassing it in public.