Congress leader KC Venugopal questions BJP’s 90% strike rate in Bihar elections, says never happened in Indian history

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal. (File photo/ANI)

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Saturday strongly questioned the BJP’s reported 90% strike rate in the Bihar Assembly elections, calling it unprecedented in Indian electoral history.

“A 90% strike rate for a political party has not happened in Indian history. We are doing a thorough analysis, we are collecting the data. Within one or two weeks, we will come with concrete proof. EC is totally one-sided, there is no transparency, the process is questionable,” Venugopal told reporters after meeting party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday.

The remarks come after a crushing defeat for the Congress–RJD alliance. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept the polls, with the BJP winning 89 seats (up from 74 in 2020) and JD(U) surging to 85 (from 43), according to early results. In contrast, Congress managed just 6 seats out of the 61 it contested, a sharp fall from its previous tally of 19.

Congress has accused the Election Commission of unfair practices. “Without doubt, the election results in Bihar reflect vote chori on a gigantic scale, masterminded by the PM, the HM, and the Election Commission,” party communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said on behalf of the leadership.

Venugopal has repeatedly attacked the EC, accusing it of shielding the BJP. He said the commission “crossed all limits of shamelessness” by refusing to provide access to machine-readable electoral rolls and by allegedly deleting CCTV footage from polling processes.

“There has been a question mark over the entire election process right from the beginning. … Our people are collecting the data, we will see Form 17C, voters list and then come to you with facts and data,” added Congress leader Ajay Maken, as the party vowed to scrutinise the rolls and polling forms.