Battle for Bihar: Nitish Kumar and the Theatre of Power

The book tracks the complex socio-political churn in Bihar starting from the late 1980s [2.2.4]. It examines how an initial political brotherhood dissolved into an open rivalry, forcing alliances with national players like the BJP and RJD to secure absolute power

Arun Sinha is one of India's most distinguished political journalists and editors [2.3.5]. An alumnus of Patna Engineering College (where he was a classmate of Nitish Kumar) [2.2.2], he has worked for major publications like the Indian Express and The Times of India [2.3.5]. He holds the distinction of being the first Indian Reuters Fellow at Oxford University [2.3.5]

• • The text traces the dual tracks of governance and political survival under Nitish Kumar. It details how he initially brought structural stability, law and order, and infrastructure back to a state heavily fractured under Lalu Yadav's long reign [2.2.4]. However, the national rise of Narendra Modi in 2013 completely upended Bihar's political equilibrium [2.2.4]. Sinha evaluates how Nitish's frequent, high-stakes switching of alliances cost him immense political goodwill [2.2.4]. Ultimately, the book details the fragile nature of opportunist coalitions and identity politics in regional India [2.2.4, 2.3.4].