Bihar Election Results: The country's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, could win only six seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, which is the lowest since 2010.

Rahul Gandhi

The crushing defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections has compounded the challenges already facing the Congress. It now faces the challenge of not only maintaining unity but also of negotiating seat sharing with allies and regaining lost ground for next year's assembly elections.

The country's main opposition party could win only six seats in the Bihar assembly elections, which is the lowest since 2010.

The Congress, which has adopted an aggressive stance on the issue of alleged vote theft and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, has not yet made any official statement on the Bihar results, but many party leaders have, on their own, raised questions on the role of the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters after the victory of the National Democratic Alliance, took a dig at the Congress and said that there could be a big split in this party.

Last year, Congress had indicated its resurgence by winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, but its subsequent defeat in the assembly elections of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi dashed those hopes.

Congress was a big force in Bihar, but its condition has been deteriorating for the last four decades.

It had won 196 seats in 1985, but this number dropped to 71 in 1990. The Congress won 29 and 23 seats in 1995 and 2000, respectively. It was reduced to four seats in 2010, although as a component of the Grand Alliance, it won 27 seats in 2015.

What challenge does Rahul face?

The 'Voter Rights Yatra' launched by Rahul Gandhi a few weeks before the Bihar Assembly elections also proved ineffective because, like in other parts of the state, the Grand Alliance was wiped out in the areas through which the Yatra passed.

This yatra, which started from Sasaram in Rohtas district on August 17 under the leadership of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, was against alleged vote theft and special intensive revision of the voter list.

The Yatra passed through Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gayaji, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Lakhisarai, Munger, Katihar, Purnia, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Bhojpur, and some other areas.