Cong reviews Bihar debacle; contestants flag Rs 10,000 transfer, delay in seat-sharing, 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Several of the Congress leaders who contested the recent Bihar assembly elections conveyed to the party's top brass on Thursday that the NDA government's Rs 10,000 transfer to women beneficiaries, delay in seat-sharing deal among the Mahagathbandhan allies, internal rift and "electoral malpractices" were among the reasons for the poll debacle.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal met the candidates to hold a review meeting with them days after the Bihar election defeat.
The three top leaders met the candidates in batches of 10.
Later, they also deliberated on the reasons for the massive defeat with senior state leaders, including Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram, AICC leader in-charge of Bihar Krishna Allavaru, Congress MPs Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Tariq Anwar, and Independent MP from Purnia Pappu Yadav.
There were some reports of an altercation between two candidates during the review meeting. However, Pappu Yadav refuted them and said these reports were "false".
After the meeting, Venugopal said the four-hour review meeting made one thing absolutely clear -- the Bihar election was not a genuine mandate; it was a grossly managed and fabricated outcome.
"They highlighted how SIR (Special Intensive Revision) enabled targeted voter deletions and dubious additions, how blatant cash bribery under the so-called MMRY (Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana) scheme was used to influence voters even at the polling stations and how identical margins across constituencies exposed a pattern that no independent election commission would ever overlook," Venugopal said on X.
"These issues point to organised electoral malpractices and brazen violations of the Model Code of Conduct, carried out under the watch of an ECI that has increasingly behaved like an active collaborator in BJP's election rigging," he said.
What happened in Bihar is nothing short of a direct assault on democracy, Venugopal alleged.
"The Congress Party will not allow this stolen mandate to become the new normal. The fight to protect India's democracy continues -- fearlessly, relentlessly, and with the people by our side," he said.
The Congress' Araria MLA, Abidur Rahman, said, "There were several reasons for the defeat. The first reason is that 10,000 rupees were given in violation of the model code of conduct. The alliance could not be formed at the right time. There was a friendly contest in 10-11 seats, which sent the wrong message to the public."
"The alliance should have been formed on time. The spread of religious and caste frenzy had an impact," he said, and also cited AIMIM's strong performance in the Seemanchal belt of Bihar.
The situation was such that if a man voted for the Congress, his wife voted for the NDA, Rahman said, elaborating on the impact of the transfer of Rs 10,000 to women beneficiaries.
There was discord between the old and young party leaders, Rahman claimed.
Another contestant Tauqeer Alam said that the leadership met the candidates in groups of 10 and held a discussion on the reasons for the defeat.
The Congress won only six of the 61 seats it contested in the Bihar Assembly elections.
Its state unit president Rajesh Kumar lost from the Kutumba seat, legislature party leader in the outgoing Assembly, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, was defeated by JD(U) candidate Dulal Chandra Goswami from the Kadwa seat by a margin of 18,368 votes.
The six Congress candidates who won are Surendra Prasad (Valmiki Nagar), Abhisekh Ranjan (Chanpatia), Manoj Bishwas (Forbesganj), Abidur Rahman (Araria), Mohd Qamrul Hoda (Kishanganj) and Manohar Prasad Singh (Manihari).
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Talks ended without deal due to 'excessive demands' made by US: Iran
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Islamabad (PTI): The Iran-US talks in Pakistan have ended without a deal due to "excessive demands" made by the American side, a top Iranian official said on Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, however, said Iran is determined to utilise all tools, including diplomacy, to secure national interests and protect the country's well-being.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, said the talks failed to reach a peace deal, citing Tehran not forgoing its nuclear programme as one of the key sticking points. He said the American side presented its "final and best offer" to the Iranian side, but it did not accept it.
Baqaei, however, said that the two sides reached a consensus on some issues, but they held different views regarding 2-3 important matters.
He said that during the intensive negotiations that began Saturday morning, with Pakistan's mediation, numerous messages and texts were exchanged between the two sides.
"In the past 24 hours, discussions were held on various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region," Baqaei said.
"The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran's legitimate rights and interests," he added.
He said it was natural that Iran should not have expected from the beginning to reach an agreement within one meeting. "No one expected that either."
"We have not forgotten and will not forget the experiences of America's breaches of promise and malicious acts," he said.
He thanked Pakistan for hosting the negotiations and for its efforts in advancing this process.
In a brief statement to the media, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan helped mediate several rounds of “intense and constructive” discussions over the past 24 hours.
Expressing hope for progress, Dar said both sides should maintain a positive spirit to achieve durable peace and regional stability.
Dar said Pakistan would continue to play its role in facilitating engagement and dialogue between Iran and the United States in the coming days.
The Iranian delegation, led by Speaker Mohammad Baqir Galibaf, had arrived in Islamabad on Friday night, while the US delegation, headed by Vice President JD Vance, arrived on Saturday morning.
It was the first direct, high-level engagement between Iran and the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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