By Ritesh Sinha

Rahul Gandhi is preparing to march through Bihar. Beginning 17 August, the former Congress president will walk from Sasaram in what his party calls a “Voter Rights March”—a bid to rally the poor, expose electoral fraud, and reclaim moral ground for India’s oldest political party.

But while Gandhi takes to the streets, his party’s Bihar unit is imploding. The Congress, critics say, is less a political organization than a marketplace, where tickets are traded like commodities and loyalty is auctioned to the highest bidder.

A Bazaar in Sadaqat Ashram

Caste-based departments once meant to broaden representation have become fiefdoms of deal-making. The OBC wing, led by Anil “Jaihind” Yadav—a man once known for hawking medicine packets—has become notorious for peddling influence. Within weeks of joining Congress, Shashibhushan Pandit was made state OBC chief and promptly announced a ticket for a minister’s son-in-law.

The scandal ignited revolt in Gaya, where furious party workers locked Pandit out of Congress offices. That he had to be rescued by police, under pressure from the very minister whose family benefited from his decision, speaks volumes about how far the rot has spread.

Ajay Maken’s Shadow

Hovering over Bihar Congress is Ajay Maken, the party treasurer and head of its screening committee. Maken has long been accused of turning ticket distribution into a patronage racket, leaving behind disillusion and factionalism in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh. In Bihar, his committee reportedly arrived without even a list of seats to be screened.

Maken’s reputation is already stained by financial controversies—millions raised from workers as “donations” but never properly accounted for. That he still presides over candidate selection suggests not just negligence, but institutional complicity.

Rahul’s March: High on Rhetoric, Low on Ground Reality

Gandhi’s march promises sweeping welfare—monthly stipends for women, free medical care worth ₹25 lakh, land for the poor, free electricity, and tablets for students. It is a catalogue of populism, pitched to rival the pledges of AAP and the BJP.

Yet Gandhi has marched before. His Bharat Jodo Yatra drew huge crowds. His Northeast march drew headlines. Both failed to shift electoral outcomes. Without organizational integrity, enthusiasm evaporates. Bihar risks becoming another act in the same tragic play: the leader on the street, the party in disarray.

Abandoning Its Own Base

Perhaps most recklessly, Bihar Congress leaders have chosen to sideline upper-caste groups—Brahmins, Bhumihars, Rajputs, Kayasthas—once crucial to the party’s base. In-charge Krishna Allavaru and PCC chief Rajesh Ram have openly declared preference for Dalit and OBC candidates. The result is alienation, with senior upper-caste leaders distancing themselves from the party’s headquarters.

What remains is a party leaning on NGO operators and parachuted faces, repeating mistakes that already cost it dearly in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.

The Verdict

Rahul Gandhi wants to march Bihar into a story of renewal. But his party has already written another story—of corruption, factionalism, and caste arithmetic gone wrong. If Congress fails again, it will not be because voters rejected Gandhi’s message, but because Congress leaders sold it before it reached them.

The risk for Rahul is clear: he may walk Bihar’s streets, but Congress itself is walking off a cliff.