New Delhi: Bihar’s verdict is not just a landslide for the NDA—projected to cross 205 seats—but a blunt rejection of the Congress party’s national political strategy. With the party collapsing toward a historic low of just four seats (at 4 pm) in the 243-member Assembly, the results amount to a direct repudiation of the two planks Rahul Gandhi had placed at the centre of his politics: a nationwide caste census and the allegation of “vote chori” (vote theft).

The irony is stark. Gandhi had positioned the caste census and the slogan “jitni abadi, utna haq” as the backbone of his messaging. Bihar, with its layered caste matrix, was supposed to be the ideal proving ground. The state’s 2023 caste survey—showing 84.5% of the population as OBC, EBC, SC, or ST—gave the Congress what it believed w

See Full Page