Bihar Polls: Protest Erupts At Congress HQ After CEC Meeting, Women Workers Allege ‘Dummy Candidates’ Favoured
The Congress CEC, chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge and attended virtually by Rahul Gandhi, deliberated on Bihar Assembly election candidates and seat-sharing ahead of the Mahagathbandhan announcement.
Top Congress leaders on Tuesday deliberated over probable candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections during a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and party treasurer Ajay Maken. Rahul Gandhi joined the discussion virtually.
Party Reviews Candidate List, Seat-Sharing on the Agenda
According to party sources cited by news agency PTI, the CEC examined over 50 names for constituencies the Congress is likely to contest. The meeting came a day before the expected announcement of the opposition Mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing formula. Senior leaders Ambika Soni, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Salman Khurshid, T S Singhdeo, K J George, Amee Yagnik, and P L Punia were among those present.
AICC in-charge for Bihar Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram, and Shakeel Ahmad Khan also participated. Discussions reportedly followed last-minute talks held on Monday between senior Congress leaders and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav.
Regarding murmurs of differences in Mahagathbandhan, Bihar Congress CLP leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan told news agency ANI, "We are having meeting withs RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav... There are no differences between us... Tomorrow there will be a discussion between the leaders of Mahagathbandhan in Patna, and names of candidates will be announced shortly."
The Congress, which had contested 70 seats in the 2020 Assembly polls but won only 19, is expected to receive fewer seats this time. The Bihar elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting on November 14.
Women Workers Stage Protest at Party Headquarters
Following the CEC meeting, a dramatic scene unfolded at the Congress headquarters as several women workers staged a protest, raising slogans before Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. According to ANI, the protestors alleged discrimination in ticket distribution despite Rahul Gandhi’s earlier assurance of reserving 33% of party tickets for women candidates.
The women workers told ABP News that they had been “working tirelessly for the Congress for years” but were being overlooked in favour of “dummy candidates”. They claimed that genuine grassroots workers were being ignored in the selection process.
#WATCH | Delhi: After Congress CEC meeting on Bihar polls, party workers express their resentment.
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2025
A worker says, "...It was said that those people who will be on the screening committee, those who will have their online application will be given tickets. But a few leaders like… pic.twitter.com/xJnLTWdjt4
Expressing strong resentment, one Congress worker told reporters, “It was said that those who were part of the screening committee and completed the online application process would be given tickets. But leaders like Krishna Allavaru and Rajesh Ram make women work hard, send them door to door, and then betray them. Rahul Gandhi’s promise to honour youth and women is being broken by Krishna Allavaru. We Congress workers will not tolerate this. Bihar will not accept this. You will see the outcome; we will not stay silent.”
The meeting lasted nearly three hours, with the Congress discussing around 15 to 18 seats on Tuesday, sources said. In the previous CEC meeting, final decisions were made on 25 constituencies, while 22 remain under discussion.
Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram later told reporters, “Today we attended the second CEC meeting. Everyone expressed their opinions openly. We discussed all the constituencies. In this two-to-three-hour-long meeting, we can say that we deliberated on candidates for the regions that fall under the Congress quota.”
Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi attended the meeting virtually, as both leaders were not in Delhi.
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