This year, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has made a big bang comeback and is set to be the single largest party in the Bihar assembly.
Celebrating a rare victory since the debacle that was last year's national election, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said the Bihar result "shows India plans to remain united".
"The Prime Minister and the BJP must shed their arrogance," Mr Gandhi said, adding, ""The truth is this victory is not against NDA but against the ideology of BJP, RSS and Modi. This is a message against putting Hindus against Muslims and making them fight to win elections."
In more advice for the Prime Minister, Mr Gandhi said, "Modi should stop campaigning and start working. He should also stop foreign tours and instead go and meet farmers, labourers and youth whom he promised jobs."
"His (Prime Minister) vehicle is not starting. He should start it and press the accelerator. If you do not do it, people of India will open the door and throw you out as they have done in Bihar," he said.
Mr Gandhi has pledged "full support" to Nitish Kumar, who returns as the Bihar chief minister for a third term.
The Congress tied up with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav in Bihar as a junior partner in what they call the "Grand Alliance," to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party from wining the state. Mission successful and the Congress has benefited too.
The party is leading in 20 of the 40 seats it contested, a huge gain from the humiliating four seats it had to settle for in 2010. Rahul Gandhi had led that campaign, also deciding to dump Lalu Yadav as an ally in what was described by many as a fatally flawed strategy.
This year, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has made a big bang comeback and is set to be the single largest party in the Bihar assembly.
The Congress, which surrendered power to the BJP at the Centre last year, has fared poorly in most state elections held since.
Its governments have been ousted in states like Harayana and Maharashtra and earlier this this year, it won not a single seat in Delhi, where it was in power for 15 years.