The Congress party’s electoral collapse was total. In the Legislative Council by-elections held for 28 seats across Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, the party lost every single contest it entered. It contested 12 seats—four of which it previously held—but emerged with zero. The scorecard: 0 wins, 12 losses.
The bleeding was most acute in Karnataka, the party’s ruling state. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Deputy CM BK Hariprasad failed their first major electoral test. The NDA and JD(S) coordinated effectively, stripping Congress of its single incumbent seat in the state. JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s party grabbed the seat, while the NDA swept the rest. For a party that governs a state with a population over 65 million, losing all four MLC seats is a damning referendum on its local leadership.
Bihar offered no reprieve. After negotiations broke down, the RJD and Congress went their separate ways. Congress fielded candidates in five of the eight seats, including the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency previously held by former state president Madan Mohan Jha. Prashant Kishor’s new party won that seat, marking its electoral debut. In Maharashtra, the irony was stark. Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won both seats it contested, including Pune Graduates’ with over 100,000 votes. The Congress candidate for Pune Teachers’ got fewer than 10,000 votes. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, fighting alone, also lost all its seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, Congress didn’t even play. Despite claiming parity with the Samajwadi Party (SP) for future assembly elections, it fielded zero candidates in the 11 MLC bypolls. This absence contradicts its public narrative of equal partnership. The next critical test for the Congress is the upcoming assembly elections in these states, where this performance will likely reshape alliance math and leadership stability. The party now faces an urgent internal audit before the next general election cycle.