The Bihar assembly elections are reaching their crescendo. There is tremendous interest all across as to who will win the elections and who will form the government once the results are announced. As of now, no one is in a position to declare a clear winner. It’s really credible that even after almost 20 years in power, the NDA is in contention and is fighting hard to retain power. But the biggest enigma of this election is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar; till the time of writing, it is not certain if he will be the chief minister of the NDA if it manages to win the election. The BJP is not willing to commit, and Amit Shah, during his visit, has said that the MLAs will choose their leader after the election results are out. Why this ambiguity? Can this mean that the BJP is not willing to make him the CM if the NDA wins again? Or, is it a strategic silence to make the BJP voters hopeful that this time the CM will be from their own party? Why should it not be assumed that the BJP has decided to dump Nitish and, for the first time, wants to anoint its own candidate?

I think Bihar has had enough of Mandal stalwarts. Lalu Yadav ruled Bihar for 15 years, and after him, Nitish Kumar carried the Mandal politics forward for another two decades. 35 years is too long a time to look for an alternative and search for a fresh face who can bring real change in........

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