'Defending it’s prince': BJP slams Congress' P Chidambaram over column on Bihar polls

JUst years after bagging a historical triumph in Bihar gathering polls, Bharatiya Janata company sought to attack Congress leader P Chidambaram over his column on the polls and accused him of putting the blame of Opposition's poor performance on the voters of Bihar instead of Rahul Gandhi.While referring to Chidambaram's opinion piece in the Indian Express titled ‘Voting is not the end of responsibilities’, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that Congress in blaming the ‘janta’ (public) instead of introspecting.“Instead of doing introspection, Congress has once again chosen to defend it’s prince by blaming janta. P Chidambaram writes “it is responsibility of voters to bring them to power”. How entitled and delusional are these guys?” Poonawalla wrote on X (formerly Twitter).He added that Congress would pin the blame on electronic voting machine or special intensive revision of voter rolls and even on the public of Bihar, but not on Rahul Gandhi. Poonawalla accused Congress of “insulting” Bihar.“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 !” he wrote.Also read: 'Left me orphaned': Rohini Acharya's fresh remark day after quitting RJD, politicsMoments later, Poonawalla doubled down on his criticism of Congress and shared a news screenshot in which Trinamool Congress leader is quoted as saying that Mamata Banerjee is the ideal candidate to lead the INDIA bloc and Congress is leading “acceptability” and "popularity".“Now TMC before Parliament session wants INDI alliance leader to be changed- they have no confidence in Rahul Gandhi. When will Congress wake up and smell the coffee. Stop blaming EVM and SIR. Stop blaming Janta (like Chidambaram did). Fault lies in Rahul who has lost 95 elections. Congress = liability for INDI alliance partners,” Poonawalla wrote. What P Chidambaram wroteIn his opinion piece, P Chidambaram analysed the outcome of the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, followed by its ally Janata Dal (United) with 85 seats while the Opposition bloc suffered an embarrassing defeat with Rashtriya Janata Dal down to just 25 seats and Congress to a mere six seats.Chidambaram wrote that since the people in Bihar are poor and there is massive unemployment, “there is no explanation why the people voted as they did in the just-concluded elections.”He also urged the people of Bihar to “re-discover the spirit of the Champaran era”.He also said that it was “unfortunate” that Bihar did not vote for a “strong Opposition” in the state. “It is a greater responsibility than the exercise of the right to vote,” he wrote.