The optics of Rahul Gandhi’s opposition unity took a hit on Thursday, October 23, when his photos went missing from the Mahagathbandhan’s joint press conference in Patna, where RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was expected to be officially announced as the alliance’s chief ministerial face.
The absence of the Congress leader’s image quickly snowballed into a political flashpoint, with the BJP accusing the alliance of sidelining its so-called national partner.
Leading the fun, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to X (formerly Twitter) to taunt the opposition bloc:
“Joint PC? But only one picture. Rahul Gandhi & Congress ka ‘samman chori’. Showed Congress & Rahul his place?”
The phrase ‘samman chori’ — or theft of respect — was a deliberate twist on Rahul Gandhi’s own ‘vote chori’ campaign, where he had accused the BJP and Election Commission of manipulating voter rolls. This time, the BJP flipped the script, suggesting it was the RJD, not the BJP, that had robbed the Congress of dignity.
Adding to the ridicule, BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia compared Tejashwi Yadav to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, saying that the RJD leader’s “insecurity” led to not just Rahul Gandhi, but even Lalu Prasad Yadav being dropped from the posters.
The BJP framed the episode as proof that the Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of RJD, Congress, and Left parties, was already crumbling under its own contradictions.
Joining in, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan also expressed that the first press conference of the Mahagathbandhan had exposed its imbalance.
“There is a poster of a regional party, but the national party is missing. The NDA is going to win Bihar,” Paswan quipped.
While the BJP and LJP went all out, the Congress chose restraint. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who attended alliance meetings in Patna, dismissed talk of friction, “The Mahagathbandhan is united and contesting as a strong force”, he said.
Tejashwi Yadav, too, attempted to brush off the controversy, saying that the press conference “will clear all doubts.”
As per reports, Wednesday’s meeting between Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Congress representatives Ashok Gehlot and Krishna Allavaru was tense but conclusive.
The Congress, reportedly under pressure, agreed to withdraw several candidates from overlapping constituencies and endorse Tejashwi as the unanimous CM face.
The RJD has already declared 143 candidates, including 24 women, while Congress’s final list remains pending amid continuing negotiations.
The missing photo might seem like a minor design oversight — but in politics, symbols speak louder than manifestos. For many, the absence of Rahul Gandhi’s image from a “joint” event underlines the shifting power equation within the opposition: Tejashwi at the forefront, Congress at the margins.
The BJP’s “samman chori” barb, therefore, hits where it hurts, the Congress’s quest to stay politically relevant in a state where it once dominated.
Bihar will vote in two phases with results on November 14. The Mahagathbandhan is likely to field Tejashwi Yadav as CM face and Mukesh Sahni of VIP as Deputy CM candidate.
The NDA, meanwhile, has positioned itself as a contrast, organized, cohesive, and ready to exploit every crack in the opposition’s photo frame.
