HALTING THE BJP JUGGERNAUT

A roller-coaster year saw the Opposition coalition rebound with bold moves and policy wins, but internal rifts continue to test its durability

- Kaushik Deka

The year couldn't have begun any worse for the coalition better known by its backronym, INDIA, than the somewhat clunky 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance'. It was just six months before that it was born, named and heralded as the Opposition's best shot at challenging the decade-long dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And yet here was one of its paternal spirits and most visible faces, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, defecting to the very camp he had been plotting to defeat!