The Congress's poor strike rate in Bihar's election results could take its toll on alliances with regional allies, including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
The Congress's poor strike rate in the Bihar election results can take its toll in other poll-bound states. The effect will be greater in those states where the Congress is eyeing the alliance from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu. While an alliance with the Left parties has already been announced in West Bengal, it is the DMK in Tamil Nadu, with which the Congress may face more hurdles.
The Congress is being blamed for the outcome of the grand alliance in Bihar. The Congress managed to win only 19 of the 70 contested seats in the state with a strike rate of 27 percent, the poorest of all other allies in the Grand Alliance, signaling its leaders to raise their fingers.
Tariq Anwar, a veteran Bihar leader and five-time Lok Sabha MP from Katihar, admitted, "We need to accept the truth. The Mahagathbandhan lost due to the weak organization of the Congress party in the state. We have to find out the reasons for the loss needed."
Poor strike rate
There is a worrying trend in the performance of the Congress in the states where it contested in alliance with regional parties. In Uttar Pradesh, the party contested the 2017 assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and won just seven of the 114 seats. It contested with a low strike rate of 6.14 percent.
In the 2018 Maharashtra Assembly elections 2018, the Congress contested 147 seats over its ally NCP, which fielded candidates for 121 seats. But the Congress won 44 seats - 10 less than the NCP with a strike rate of 29.93 percent.
Important elections for DMK
The Bihar election results are likely to affect the DMK-Congress alliance in Tamil Nadu. In 2016, Congress contested 40 seats and won only eight seats with a strike rate of 19.51 percent. This was cited as the reason for AIADMK's victory and DMK's defeat in that election.
Political observers predict that DMK, political strategist Prashant Kishore for the 2021 assembly elections, may not be keen to repeat the 2016 mistake. On the other hand, Congress will not be in a position to pursue its case.
There are at least 35-40 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress has no less than 7,000 and a dedicated vote bank in at least 10 to 12 constituencies. The party gets more than 12,000-15,000 votes. There are at least 20 to 25 constituencies, where Congress can have around 5000 votes.
Of all the 234 seats, if the Congress party goes alone without the DMK, it will certainly spoil the DMK's chances in at least 40 constituencies. When the margins are very thin in previous elections, DMK lost 30 such seats in the last election with a margin of 100 to 5,000 votes. One can imagine that the DMK will suffer a loss if it defects from Congress.
Motivated Left in Bengal
The Congress's poor performance in Bihar's Seemanchal region, which affects the boundaries of West Bengal, may also hurt its prospects in next year's assembly elections. The Mahagathbandhan or the grand alliance, the Left parties, outperformed the Congress and attributed it to the coalition ship's sinking. It is being emphasized that the results of Bihar may outweigh the recently announced Left-Congress alliance in Bengal.
In the 2016 assembly elections, the Congress contested 92 seats and managed to win 44 seats with a stunning strike rate of 44 percent.
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 "How will poor performance in Bihar affect poll prospects of Congress in Bengal, Tamil Nadu")
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