Bihar: Finally, the Congress stands up to be counted

Ask a pedestrian in Patna the way to Sadaquat Ashram and chances are that you would be met with a quizzical look. The headquarters of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) has been a sprawling but sleepy place since 1990, when the last Congress chief minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha lost the election. Ironically, it was here that Lalu Prasad Yadav was elected leader of the Janata Dal legislature party and thereby the chief minister for the first time.

No wonder it no longer rings a bell. It has been downhill since then for the Congress although Sadaquat Ashram has a glorious history. An orchard which stood at the site was readily handed over by the owner, Khairu Mian, to Maulana Mazharul Huq, a barrister and close associate of Mahatma Gandhi since the Champaran satyagraha.

Maulana Mazharul Huq used his own resources to build the structure of the Bihar Vidyapith, visualised by Gandhi as a national university free of government control. It was here that leaders of the freedom struggle would meet, where Gandhiji and Kasturba stayed and where the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, lived after retirement.

Those memories have faded with the Congress taking a backseat in state politics. The party is, however, showing some signs of life now. Between 1980 and 1990, when the Congress was in power, it tried out as many as five chief ministers, all from the upper castes — Jagannath Mishra, Chandrashekhar Singh, Bindeswari Dubey, Bhagwat Jha Azad and Satyendra Narayan Sinha.

That is why the changes in 2025 are so stark. Shivprakash ‘Gareebdas’ Yadav heads the Youth Congress in the state, Suraj Yadav leads the student wing NSUI, Sanjay Yadav oversees the Seva Dal and the women’s cell is headed by Sharbat Jahan Fatimah.

The Congress legislature party (CLP) leader in the assembly is Shakeel Ahmad Khan, a JNU alumnus, and now Rajesh Kumar has been appointed BPCC president.

One can see other changes on the ground. The party’s front organisations are suddenly visible on the streets in the forefront of protests. Kanhaiya Kumar’s ‘Palayan Roko, Rozgar Do’ (stop the migration, give jobs) yatra — which began in West Champaran on 16 March and will end in Patna on 14 April on Ambedkar Jayanti — is being talked about in political circles, mocked by NDA leaders and being covered, grudgingly or otherwise, by regional media.

Travelling by train first from Delhi and thereafter by road to Samastipur, and speaking to people was enlightening. Virtually everyone acknowledges that appointing a Dalit BPCC chief was not just symbolic but also a pragmatic move. The party could hope to consolidate support among the six per cent of Ravidasi Dalits, who have historically been less politically assertive compared to Paswans, Pasis and Majhis.

Rajesh Kumar comes from the Ravidasi community and when this reporter met him at Sadaquat Ashram, the day before he formally took charge, he had tears in his eyes when he said, “This is a turning point in the history of the Congress in Bihar.”

Though sceptics doubt his ability to deal with the old guard, the factions and myriad other challenges, Kumar exudes confidence. “I have 35 years of political experience. Since 1985, I’ve been absorbing political discussions at home and outside,” he says quietly. On his arrival at Sadaquat Ashram that day, he took Congressmen by surprise when he stopped, bowed and placed his head on the staircase before stepping in.

Young India Ke Bol

It is just over a month since Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made Rajesh Kumar in charge of Bihar on 15 February.

Krishna Allavaru, national in-charge of the Youth Congress, appears to have hit the ground running. In the first one month itself, the quiet, soft-spoken man in trousers and shirt with a penetrating look has grabbed attention. He was present when Kanhaiya Kumar’s yatra was flagged off in Champaran, walked with him and would often rush back to Patna to tackle any crisis. He has already visited several districts, interacted with party workers and flew back to New Delhi on a brief visit to give his feedback to party leaders.

Young India Ke Bol, an initiative said to be spearheaded by him, had the finale of its fifth season in Patna. Operating discreetly over the years, this programme is designed to identify and train young spokespersons in Hindi, English and regional languages. The selection process is both rigorous and transparent. Aspiring candidates from across the country submit their content videos via the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) app. The shortlisted participants are invited to engage in debates at various levels.

The programme is held in different cities and states to maximise participation and ensure fairness. Following the prize distribution at Patna, Allavaru congratulated the participants, promising a bigger and better edition next time. He created a buzz by saying that in the past, becoming a party spokesperson required making parikrama of senior leaders. “If you have talent, understand the party’s ideology, and can argue effectively, you will be given the platform to become a spokesperson.”

While contestants and younger workers welcomed the shift, a few of the old guard felt the party was pushing for radical changes a little too fast. The response among the youth was more positive. “Rahul’s Congress is finally taking shape in Bihar. Krishna is the architect, but the designer is Rahul,” one of them told this correspondent

The Waqf Bill controversy

With iftar parties hosted by leaders, political parties, ministers, MLAs and MPs, political circles are agog with discussions around the impending assembly election. Muslims constitute nearly 18 per cent of the state’s population, according to the caste survey undertaken in 2023. The Waqf Bill, which the Union government hopes to push through in the current session of Parliament, and its possible impact in the election, is a hot button issue.

At an iftar hosted by senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, which was attended by Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, several invitees were apprehensive that once the Bill is passed, the Modi government would take over waqf properties. A young Congress leader, aspiring for a ticket from Jale assembly seat, where Muslims make up 30 per cent of the electorate and Yadavs 11 per cent, said, “Lakhs of people depend on waqf properties for their livelihood. Many of them run small shops and workshops on waqf land; their fear is not misplaced.”

Asked how the issue would play out in the election, a senior Congress leader asserted that while the party had opposed the Bill in Parliament and outside, in Bihar, electorally it could help the BJP in polarising the Hindu votes if the Congress opposes it too strongly. Discussions are still going on over how to frame the debate so that BJP is prevented from manipulating the narrative, he said. Several Muslim organisations are holding meetings in Patna and some of them boycotted chief minister Nitish Kumar’s iftar party this year because of his failure to oppose this highly controversial piece of legislation.