Rise, Fall, Rise

Despite persistent reports of declining health and speculation that his political run was ending, Nitish Kumar has staged a notable electoral recovery in Bihar

- Umesh Kumar Ray

An Eventful Journey

(1) Nitish Kumar in his office in 1998 (2) Nitish greets supporters in Patna after victory in the 2015 Bihar state election (3) Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by Governor of Bihar K.N. Tripathi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Patna airport (4) Nitish at RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's 69th birthday celebration (5) Nitish observes the solar eclipse at Taregna near Patna

DESPITE the scale of the victory, the Janata Dal (United) office on Veerchand Patel Road in Patna wore a subdued look on the evening of November 14.

The headquarters sits barely a kilometre-and-a-half from the state Secretariat, but the trickle of supporters made it feel like any other night in Patna rather than the end of a hard-fought election.

Those who had gathered were jubilant but careful. Faces were streaked with pink and green gulaal (celebratory coloured powder) and two groups of supporters danced in the courtyard while a handful of hired artists kept up a steady beat on the tasha (single-headed drum) and drums. In the middle of it all, 65-yearold Om Prakash Singh danced without pause until exhaustion forced him to sit under a nearby tree. "Shareer thak gaya, lekin mann nahi bhar raha hai" (The body feels tired, but the mind wants more), he said between breaths. Singh had arrived at the JD(U) office in the afternoon from Saran district, travelling 70 kilometres, when the election results were almost clear.

He belongs to the Awadhia Kurmi caste listed under Other Backward Class (OBC) and is a die-hard fan of Nitish Kumar, who is also an Awadhia Kurmi linked to the lineage of Raghuvanshi Kshatriya of Awadh. Singh says Nitish transformed society and empowered women and that is why he won big today too.