ISAS Briefs

Nitish Kumar ’s return to the helm as Chief Minister of Bihar is a remarkable political comeback in the sense that he succeeded in bringing odd allies under a single umbrella, and in doing so without compromising his development agenda. In all probability, he will make it big this time – with a perfect sense of the situation that arose from the blunder he committed when relinquishing the posi tion of chief minister. Kumar had resigned as Bihar C hief M inister a day after Narendra Modi led his party to a historic win in the national general election last year – with Kumar’s party suffering a humiliating defeat in Bihar in that election . Notably, Kumar’s decision then, which turned out to be a lapse in realpolitik , has turned Bihar into a playground for unhealthy politics