THE NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

In a first, Nitish cedes control of the home ministry. The new lawman, deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, is known to be quicker on the draw

- By Amitabh Srivastava

NO ONE SAW IT COMING, BUT THEN BIHAR HAS A HABIT of throwing curve balls at everyone in the business of forecasting.

As tenth-time chief minister Nitish Kumar allocated portfolios on November 21, the one decision that grabbed attention was the home portfolio going to deputy CM Samrat Choudhary. The surprise quotient was high owing to two separate political reasons. One, after Nitish skilfully commandeered a mammoth mandate along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), everyone made a few default assumptions on the shape of the coming government. Since Nitish's continuation as CM had been sealed, closing off what was a grey area not too long ago, it was thought he was back in full measure.