If%20BJP%20took%20Nitish%20Kumar%20to%20win%20Bihar%20again%2C%20Congress%20made%20Tejashwi%20Yadav%20taste%20defeat%20in%20the%20prolonged%20sea-saw%20ride%20that%20finally%20culminated%20in%20the%20wee%20hours%20of%20Wednesday%20morning.%20%26nbsp%3B

It%20was%20clearly%20the%20Narendra%20Modi%20juggernaut%2C%20which%20retrieved%20the%20virtually%20slipping%20ground%20for%20a%20visibly%20beleaguered%20JD%28U%29%20leader%20Nitish%20Kumar%2C%20whose%2015-%20year%20stint%20as%20the%20state%20chief%20minister%20had%20already%20given%20him%20sufficient%20anti-incumbency.%20No%20wonder%20even%20if%20JD%28U%29%20ended%20up%20sliding%20down%20from%20its%202015%20tally%20of%2071%20%26nbsp%3Bto%20a%20paltry%2043%20now%2C%20BJP%20could%20compensate%20for%20the%20loss%20by%20its%20rise%20from%2053%20in%202015%20to%2074%20now.

On%20the%20other%20hand%2C%20Congress%20star%20Rahul%20Gandhi%20only%20ended%20up%20taking%20his%20party%u2019s%20numbers%20down%20from%2027%20in%202015%20to%20just%2019%20this%20time.%20%26nbsp%3BAnd%20that%20was%20even%20though%20Congress%20had%20successfully%20bargained%20for%20contesting%20as%20many%20as%2070%20of%20the%20243%20Bihar%20assembly%20seats.%20%26nbsp%3B

While%2031-year%20old%20Tejashwi-led%20RJD%20not%20only%20emerged%20as%20the%20single-largest%20party%2C%20he%20has%20also%20been%20able%20to%20establish%20himself%20as%20a%20political%20leader%20in%20his%20own%20right%20by%20taking%20RJD%20to%20win%20%26nbsp%3B75%20of%20the%20144%20seats%20contested%20by%20the%20party.

Goes%20the%20old%20saying%20%u2013%20wise%20men%20learn%20from%20the%20experience%20of%20others%2C%20fools%20from%20their%20own.%20But%20here%20is%20the%20country%u2019s%20oldest%20party%20with%20an%20unparalleled%20legacy%2C%20which%20has%20failed%20to%20learn%20even%20from%20their%20own%20experience.%20No%20one%20other%20than%20the%20Congress%20leadership%20could%20have%20known%20its%20actual%20potential%20in%20the%20game%20of%20votes%2C%20yet%20they%20insisted%20on%20getting%20a%20large%20share%20of%20the%20seats%20%u2013%20as%20if%20to%20satisfy%20its%20inflated%20ego.%20After%20all%2C%20the%20party%20leaders%20ought%20to%20have%20known%20that%20Congress%20had%20never%20%u2013%20even%20during%20hits%20glorious%20past%20%u2013%20had%20never%20won%20on%20at%20least%2030%20of%20the%2070%20seats%20it%20contested.

Sure%20enough%2C%20the%20Congress%20had%20no%20business%20to%20be%20contesting%20as%20many%20as%2070%20seats.%20But%20probably%20its%20habit%20of%20living%20in%20the%20past%20led%20the%20party%20leadership%20to%20hard%20bargain%20for%2070%20seats.%20Or%20was%20it%20their%20over-confidence%20on%20account%20of%20its%20win%20on%2027%20of%20the%2041%20seats%20it%20had%20contested%20in%202015%3F

The%20problem%20with%20Congress%20is%20that%20it%20chooses%20to%20remain%20in%20denial%20mode%20and%20not%20accept%20the%20reality%20of%20the%20present.%20No%20wonder%2C%20it%20has%20not%20been%20able%20to%20come%20to%20grips%20with%20the%20present-day%20reality.%20Otherwise%2C%20nothing%20prevented%20the%20party%20leadership%20from%20abdicating%20their%20claim%20to%20so%20many%20seats%20and%20giving%20away%20some%20to%20RJD%20while%20conceding%20some%20to%20the%20Left%20parties.%20After%20all%2C%20the%20Left%20combine%20has%20proved%20its%20worth%20by%20winning%2016%20of%20the%2029%20seats%20they%20contested.%20%26nbsp%3B

It%20is%20more%20than%20evident%20now%20that%20the%20Left%20parties%20could%20have%20easily%20added%20more%20to%20the%20Mahagathbandhan%20kitty%20if%20they%20had%20a%20larger%20share%20in%20the%20number%20of%20seats%20to%20contest.%20No%20one%20doubts%20that%20had%20it%20not%20been%20for%20Congress%20party%u2019s%20insistence%20to%20get%20a%20%u201Crespectable%u201D%20share%20in%20the%20number%20of%20seats%2C%20the%20grand%20alliance%20could%20have%20got%20the%20opportunity%20to%20form%20the%20new%20government%20in%20the%20state.%20After%20all%2C%20in%20the%20game%20of%20numbers%2C%20the%20grand%20alliance%20was%20not%20really%20far%20behind%20NDA%2C%20especially%20since%20Asaduddin%20Owaisi%u2019s%20AIMIM%20would%20have%20easily%20backed%20it.%20%26nbsp%3B

It%20is%20another%20matter%20that%20at%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20show%20no%20one%20including%20Owaisi%20himself%20could%20have%20imagined%20that%20his%20party%20would%20make%20its%20entry%20into%20the%20Bihar%20assembly%20with%20a%20tally%20of%20five.%20In%20fact%2C%20it%20made%20its%20maiden%20presence%20in%20the%20state%20assembly%20only%20as%20late%20as%20in%202019%20when%20the%20party%20won%20a%20bye-election.

Interestingly%2C%20Congress%20had%20already%20begun%20to%20blame%20Owaisi%20for%20its%20own%20loses%20on%20some%20of%20the%20Muslim-dominated%20seats%20in%20what%20is%20called%20the%20%u2018Semanchal%u2019%20area%20of%20Bihar.%20But%20that%20could%20be%20the%20Congress%20party%u2019s%20retort%20to%20Owaisi%u2019s%20echoing%20description%20of%20the%20party%20as%20%u201CBJP%u2019s%20B-Team%u201D.

All%20said%20and%20done%2C%20Owaisi%u2019s%20win%20on%20five%20assembly%20seats%20does%20reflect%20the%20Congress%20party%u2019s%20fading%20influence%20on%20the%20Muslim%20vote%20too.

Surely%2C%20it%20is%20high%20time%20the%20party%u2019s%20top%20leadership%20starts%20understanding%20the%20ground%20reality.%20Without%20coming%20to%20terms%20with%20harsh%20facts%2C%20there%20is%20no%20way%20it%20can%20equip%20itself%20to%20once%20again%20become%20relevant%20in%20India%u2019s%20polity%2C%20where%20it%20is%20certainly%20needed%20more%20than%20ever%20in%20the%20past.%20After%20all%2C%20a%20strong%20opposition%20alone%20can%20strengthen%20the%20democratic%20ethos%20which%20seems%20to%20be%20badly%20threatened%20today.%20As%20for%20Bihar%2C%20the%20tough%20fight%20that%20RJD%20and%20Left%20parties%20gave%20to%20the%20might%20of%20the%20BJP%2C%20lends%20some%20hope%20for%20the%20restoration%20of%20democratic%20values.

%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23BiharElection2020%22%20data-user-id%3D%22BV2zd2QfB7Kx%22%20href%3D%22/topic/bihar-election-2020%22%3E%23BiharElection2020%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Congress%22%20data-user-id%3D%22KGrnteP5qPtc%22%20href%3D%22/topic/congress%22%3E%23Congress%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23BJP%22%20data-user-id%3D%22cqfihWqpWO59%22%20href%3D%22/topic/bjp%22%3E%23BJP%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23RJD%22%20data-user-id%3D%22o8dyCkCeGRfw%22%20href%3D%22/topic/rjd%22%3E%23RJD%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23NitishKumar%22%20data-user-id%3D%226qzS1kYkZwEl%22%20href%3D%22/topic/nitish-kumar%22%3E%23NitishKumar%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23TejashwiYadav%22%20data-user-id%3D%2242LF5CuYoO3t%22%20href%3D%22/topic/tejashwi-yadav%22%3E%23TejashwiYadav%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B