After Nitish

The elevation of Samrat Choudhary as chief minister marks more than a routine change of guard in Bihar.

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It signals the end of a political arrangement that revolved around the adaptability of one man, Nitish Kumar, and the beginning of a more structurally driven phase in the state’s politics.For nearly two decades, governance in Bihar was synonymous with Mr Nitish Kumar's personal authority. His tenure restored a semblance of order after the turbulent years associated with former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and reintroduced the idea that the state could be administered with a degree of predictability.

Roads were built, electricity reached villages, and women became a visible political constituency through targeted welfare measures. These were not trivial achievements in a state long defined by administrative decay.