'Congress Defending Its Prince': BJP Slams Chidambaram For Blaming Bihar Voters Over Poll Loss

Last Updated:November 16, 2025, 10:22 IST

The BJP has attacked P Chidambaram for his column on the Bihar election results. Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of “insulting” voters and deflecting blame for its losses.

File photos of Shehzad Poonawalla/P Chidambaram (PTI)

The BJP on Sunday slammed senior Congress leader P Chidambaram over his latest opinion piece on the Bihar election outcome, and accused his party of “insulting the people" after its poor performance.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a strongly worded post on X, said the Congress had once again chosen to “defend its prince by blaming janta" instead of examining its own failures.

“Instead of doing introspection, Congress has once again chosen to defend it’s prince by blaming janta," he wrote.

Referring to Chidambaram’s column in The Indian Express, Poonawalla mentioned, “P Chidambaram writes ‘it is the responsibility of voters to bring them to power’. How entitled and delusional are these guys?"

He added that Congress has had a pattern of shifting blame.

“Blame EVM, blame SIR, now blame Bihar ki janta. Don’t blame Rahul for 95 losses. Rahul can do no wrong, janta is wrong! Cong insults Bihar again!"

Chidambaram, in his column titled ‘Voting is not the end of responsibilities’, analysed the verdict that gave the NDA 202 seats compared with 35 for the Mahagathbandhan.

He wrote that while citizens must accept the result, they also needed to examine why the state continues to face deep structural crises.

The former Finance Minister said the people of Bihar “recalled the 15 years of Mr Lalu Prasad’s government" and remembered the long rule of Nitish Kumar as well, but still did not vote for change despite “massive unemployment, crores migrating out for work, multi-dimensional poverty, appalling education and healthcare conditions, and the failure of prohibition".

Chidambaram argued that given these circumstances, “there is no explanation why the people voted as they did".

He said the Bihar electorate must “re-discover the spirit of the Champaran era" and refuse to accept unqualified teachers, dysfunctional schools, paper leaks, manipulated examination results, and the chronic absence of jobs. Bihar’s youth, he wrote, “must not silently accept" being forced to migrate to “states where the people, language, food and culture are alien to them".

Criticising the Opposition’s inability to present a compelling alternative, Chidambaram said the “blame lies solely with the Opposition political parties" which failed to build organisational strength on the ground. While acknowledging that leaders like Prashant Kishor tried to articulate a new vision, he said such efforts were “burdened by numerous handicaps".

He also accused the Election Commission of playing “a questionable and partisan" role, citing the timing of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, undertaken only in Bihar, and the continuation of the Rs 10,000 cash transfer under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana even after the poll schedule was announced.

He termed the transfers “a blatant bribe to the voters".

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Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

News india 'Congress Defending Its Prince': BJP Slams Chidambaram For Blaming Bihar Voters Over Poll Loss

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