Following a crushing defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, a review meeting called by the Congress in Delhi on Thursday turned tumultuous. According to sources, controversies arose even before Rahul Gandhi arrived. A heated exchange between Congress candidate Engineer Sanjeev from Vaishali and Jitendra Yadav, who contested from Purnia, escalated, creating a tense atmosphere.
According to reports, Engineer Sanjeev alleged that the inclusion of 18 new faces in the party recently caused significant harm to Congress, stating that relying on inexperienced individuals for tickets proved detrimental to the party. He mentioned that overlooking the grassroots reality while nominating new candidates weakened the Congress's fight in several seats.
Jitendra Yadav from Purnia reacted sharply, asserting that they too are new, and every veteran leader was once new. Blaming new members for losses is incorrect. This disagreement soon escalated, turning into a heated altercation.
Sources present at the meeting claimed that the argument intensified to the point where Engineer Sanjeev allegedly threatened Jitendra Yadav with severe consequences. However, Engineer Sanjeev later clarified that his words were distorted, and his comments were misinterpreted, insisting he never intended to intimidate anyone.
So far, Congress has not issued an official statement regarding this dispute, but the tensions evident at the meeting highlight internal strife and mistrust within the party. Many senior leaders believe that instead of addressing the real causes of defeat, internal accusations make the organization appear weakened.
Notably, in the recent Bihar elections, the BJP-JDU alliance clinched 202 seats, retaining power once again, whereas the RJD-Congress coalition had to settle for just 35 seats. While Congress secured 19 seats in the 2020 elections, this time the party was reduced to a mere six seats.
