Life turns full circle for Nitish Kumar

NDA's perennial chief minister-in-waiting, finally had a sweet revenge after his brief tryst with chief ministership five years ago without a majority.

Life has come full circle for Nitish Kumar, often dubbed as NDA's perennial chief minister-in-waiting, who finally had a sweet revenge after his brief tryst with chief ministership five years ago without a majority.

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Patience finally paid for the 54-year-old Kumar, who has shown that his success was not just a flash in the pan as he led the NDA to a convincing win in the politically volatile state, to end the 15-year reign of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

The victory is all the more sweet for the trained engineer from Bihar College of Engineering as it came five years after a brief stint in the top seat in March 2000.

The then NDA-appointed Governor had sworn in Kumar despite his lacking majority and was forced to bow out without facing a trial of strength in the assembly in the face of a certain defeat.

Referred to as the Chanakya of Bihar politics, Kumar has now come to don the mantle of Chandragupta, the King of ancient Magadh who ended the reign of the Nandas.

Incidentally, Kumar also hails from backward classes like Lalu Prasad, who have come to call the shots in the state politics in the post-Mandal phase.

His hawkish views on job reservations for the OBCs and Dalit Muslims notwithstanding, the wily craftsman of modern politics did the delicate balancing act to keep the votaries of both Mandal and Mandir happy.