Leadership Crisis in INDIA Bloc: Calls for Akhilesh Yadav to Replace Congress After Bihar Election Defeat

Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party stands as the second-largest opposition force in Lok Sabha with 37 MPs.

New Delhi:

Following Congress's devastating defeat in the Bihar Assembly election, discussions have emerged regarding a potential leadership change within the INDIA opposition bloc. A Samajwadi Party MLA has voiced that party chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav should take the helm of the Opposition alliance, further asserting that the Samajwadi Party possesses the capability to independently form a government in Uttar Pradesh, one of India's most politically crucial states.

The Samajwadi Party, which secured 37 Lok Sabha seats in last year's general election, holds the position of second-largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, following only the Congress.

Ravidas Mehrotra, representing Lucknow Central as MLA, has claimed that the INDIA alliance would have established a government in Bihar if ballot voting had been implemented for the election. Notably, Akhilesh Yadav has consistently advocated for returning to ballot voting while expressing doubts about the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) system.

"Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav should lead the India Alliance. Samajwadi Party is capable of forming a government on its own in Uttar Pradesh," he stated.

These comments gain significance against the backdrop of Congress's thorough defeat in the Bihar election. The primary opposition party of India, which had won 19 seats during the 2020 polls, managed to secure merely six seats this time. This occurred despite extensive campaigning by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and other senior party leaders who conducted numerous rallies before the election. Congress's ally, RJD, won 25 seats – a reduction of 50 seats compared to their 2020 performance. The NDA celebrated a substantial victory in Bihar, capturing 202 seats in the 243-member Assembly.

Congress's consistent poor electoral performance has prompted various voices within the INDIA alliance to advocate for leadership changes in the bloc. The main opposition, which won 99 seats in last year's Lok Sabha polls, has underperformed in subsequent state elections. BJP and its coalition partners emerged victorious in six out of eight Assembly elections held last year, including the significant contests in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Previously, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had proposed that party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should lead the INDIA bloc. "In the INDIA alliance, who is the leader? Nobody has been chosen as a leader, as a face of the opposition. Now it has to be done. The Congress has failed; that is established. Congress leaders tried in Haryana, but they failed. In Maharashtra, they failed. We reposed our faith in Congress, but it could not achieve the result," Banerjee told NDTV last year.

Interestingly, RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav has also expressed support for the Trinamool chief as the INDIA bloc leader. When questioned about reluctance among Congress leaders to accept Banerjee as the INDIA leader, the RJD founder had remarked last year, "The Congress's opposition will not make any difference...She should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc."