New Delhi, Nov. 14 -- Rahul Gandhi has described the Bihar Assembly election verdict as "surprising", alleging that the contest "was not fair from the very beginning." The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha's remarks - his first public response since the results - mark the start of a difficult post-mortem for the Congress, which has once again found itself struggling to hold political ground in a state where it once dominated.

Breaking his silence a day after the NDA swept the state, Gandhi used X to thank supporters while sharply questioning the integrity of the election. "I express my heartfelt gratitude to those millions of voters in Bihar who expressed their trust in the Mahagathbandhan," he wrote, before adding: "This result in Bihar...