Rahul's Bihar experiment collapses amid RJD pressure

Rahul Gandhi's reform push falters as Congress bows to old Bihar equations.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sent one his most trusted man Krishna Allavaru to Bihar earlier this year, it looked like the beginning of a rare experiment inside the Congress — a deliberate attempt to end decades of quiet submission to senior partner Lalu Prasad Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Allavaru came with impeccable credentials: an LLM from Georgetown, an MBA from INSEAD, and areputation within Team Rahulas aclean, meticulous organiser who spoke the language of systems, not favours. As national in-charge of the Indian Youth Congress, he had already earned Rahul's trust. His appointment to Bihar, replacing Mohan Prakash, was meant to signal that the state unit would no longer be run from Lalu's drawing room.

For a party that once dominated Bihar — 196 seats in 1985 with nearly 40 percent of the vote — the scale ofits decline is staggering. By the 2020 assembly election Congress was reduced to 19 seats and under 10 percent of the vote. Since the 1990s, the RJD has effectively dictated not only how many seats Congress would contest but also which hopeless ones it would get.