THE LONG ROAD TO REDEMPTION

Nitish Kumar’s statewide Samadhan Yatra was a rehearsal for the 2024 general election campaign even as ambitious ally RJD and an aggressive BJP wait in the wings

- Amitabh Srivastava

IT WAS 4 IN THE EVENING ON FEBRUARY 7 and the winter light had begun to fade. Nitish Kumar’s team started looking a tad anxious, but the Bihar chief minister, otherwise a stickler for time and routine, seemed oblivious, enjoying his extended public interactions in Munger district that day. According to the itinerary, though, he was two hours behind and the helipad in Sheikhpura district, from where he was to take the 30-minute chopper flight to Patna, was 80-odd kilometres away.

There were other options, of course— Nitish could skip a few stopovers to be in time for the state helicopter (which can fly only during day hours for security reasons) or do the journey by car, which meant another three and a half hours on the road. It had been a long and gruelling day, with 14 pitstops already in Munger, but, as many in the 71-year-old CM’s team had feared, he immediately turned down the chopper idea and said, “Let the helicopter fly back to Patna without us.” Nitish was to take the journey by road and, in between, have another five stopovers to meet the public in the Lakhisarai and Sheikhpura districts.