WHAT SWUNG THE VOTE...

Dhrubo Jyoti decodes the factors that worked behind the scenes for the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar

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When Nitish Kumar first took oath as the chief minister of India’s second-most populous state in March 2000, there were no smartphones or Aadhaar cards, internet services were largely patchy dial-up connections, only one city in India had a short 4-km metro railway, and Narendra Modi had not even stepped into public office.

Though that stint in power was short lived - Kumar led a minority regime that wilted in the face of Lalu Prasad’s numerically stronger and muscular coalition - the man who began his political journey as a student leader in the Bihar College of Engineering has crafted a remarkably agile and durable career over the past 25 years. He has won four consecutive terms in Bihar, swapped partners four times, suffered a drubbing without the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 general elections and recovered, and emerged as the most indispensable man in the only heartland province that hasn't seen a BJP chief minister at the helm.