Kharge Thanks Bihar, But Refuses to Confront the Hard Truth

Poonam Sharma
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, reacting to the devastating Bihar 2025 mandate, said that his party “respects the people’s verdict” and will “continue its fight to protect democracy.” He thanked voters for the limited support to his party, assuring party workers that the political battle ahead was long and tough.

Above all, his statement is dignified on the surface—but incomplete in essence.

For a party that once defined India’s political imagination, mere acknowledgement of defeat is not sufficient. What Kharge did not say is far more important than what he did. The Congress is not just losing elections; it is losing its relevance, its ideological footing, and perhaps even its future. And the cause is not something external. The cause is the Congress itself.

A Mandate That Exposed a Hollow Core

The result in Bihar reflects more than a regional political shift-it exposes the national decline of a party that refuses to introspect. The Congress vote share has been shrinking across India for over a decade, but the Bihar debacle underlines a painful truth:
Congress is no longer seen as a party that understands the ground, the culture, or the aspirations of the people.
When Kharge thanks the voters, a question arises: which voters? Congress continues to alienate its traditional base of youth, women, poor, SC/ST communities, and continues to pander to fringe narratives and political experiments which have failed repeatedly.

A Party Suffocating Under Its Own Choices

The defeat of Congress was not an overnight development; it was built step by step through the very policies, alliances, and ideological stands the party had espoused over the years.

Soft corner for radical elements:

It repeatedly aligned itself with groups and narratives that questioned India’s national security and integrity, from defending anti-national slogans on university campuses to remaining silent on extremist propaganda. The message that went out to the citizens was clear: the Congress of today is disconnected from the India of today.

Identity politics over national unity:

While the rest of the country moved toward development-driven politics, Congress chose divisive, hyper-minority appeasement strategies that alienated the majority. It was not the idea of secularism that voters rejected—it was the distortion of it.

Confused leadership and fractured ideology;

Kharge’s appeal for motivating workers sounds good, but how will the workers be motivated when the very leadership seems to have lost its way? The same frustration is articulated by party cadres across states: Congress has no clear ideology, no inspiring leadership, no coherent road map.

Perception of being anti-development:

Whether it was an unremitting attack on welfare schemes, hostility to economic reforms, or an inability to proffer serious alternatives, the party presented itself as an opposition force for the sake of opposition.

Failure to connect with the new India:

The youth, being the largest voter bloc, no longer sees Congress as a party capable of delivering stability, growth, or national confidence. That perception is political poison.

Kharge’s Statement: Respectful, But Detached from Reality

Kharge says the party will “continue its fight to protect democracy.” But democracy is protected not by statements, but by introspection and evolution. The biggest threat to the Congress today is not the BJP, not the NDA, not even regional parties—it is Congress’ refusal to see itself clearly.
If Kharge is genuinely interested in “protecting democracy,” he must first save his party from self-destruction.
His expression of gratitude is welcome, but gratitude must go hand in hand with truth. And the truth is stark:
Congress is gasping for oxygen, and pretending otherwise won’t revive it.

Who’s to Blame for Congress’s Decline?

One could easily blame the electoral alliances, social media, or political adversaries. But responsibility lies squarely within:
The leadership that refused course correction
The strategists who clung to outdated playbooks
The intellectual circles that replaced ground realities with theoretical activism
The internal culture where dissent is suppressed and not respected.
The failure to build strong regional leaders
The chronic dependence on dynastic politics.
Congress’s top leadership speaks of defending democracy while first protecting internal democracy, where decisions are centralized, criticism is discouraged, and innovation is feared.

The Bitter Truth Kharge Must Swallow

The appeal by Kharge to the party workers to remain motivated and fight on is commendable. But motivation cannot survive without vision. Energy cannot sustain without direction. And a political party cannot revive without courage.
Congress is not just losing elections; it is losing its pulse. The party is standing at a cliff’s edge, taking shallow breaths, hoping that nostalgia will save it. But nostalgia cannot win elections. Nostalgia cannot build future leadership. Nostalgia cannot connect with a changing India.
This is a painful fact that Congress must accept: unless it completely reinvents itself, it is now taking its final political breaths.

A Final Word

The statement from Kharge was polite, humble, respectful-but incomplete. The Congress needs more than ceremonial acceptance of defeat. It needs honesty. It needs courage. It needs reinvention. Above all it needs Nationalism too .Unless the leadership recognizes the real causes of its decline—the anti-national posturing, ideological confusion, misplaced alliances, leadership vacuum—the Congress will continue to slide from irrelevance to oblivion.
The battle ahead is indeed long.But for the Congress, the battle is not against the NDA. It is against its own past, its own choices, and its own denial. The party can only hope to breathe again when Kharge stares at that fact.