Had Nitish Kumar ever participated in the Olympics then no one would have ever beaten him in the game of gymnastics. He is a genius in political gymnastics. It is ironic that the man who has the elephantine ambition of one day becoming the prime minister could never form the government on his own, in his own state of Bihar. The closest numbers that his party could muster in Bihar assembly were 115 in the 2010 Assembly elections. Even then his party was short of seven seats to touch the magic figure of 122 out of a total 243 Assembly seats. He then formed the government with the help of the BJP which had bagged 91 seats. This was the summit of Nitish’s political career.

In his first term as CM, Nitish not only controlled the law and order in the state but also developed road infrastructure across the state. His special drive for girls’ education was the high point of his tenure. During this time, primary health care centres also improved tremendously. This was the time when it was perceived that Nitish Kumar would be the ideal candidate for the top job in the country but with the rise of Modi as the prime ministerial candidate in 2013 for 2014 parliamentary election, his decline started.

Nitish today is a pathetic shadow of his earlier avatar. The entire drama which he has enacted this time to join hands with the BJP has permanently tarnished his image. Nitish this time had no overt reasons to switch sides. No wonder he could not openly accuse the RJD of any wrongdoing. He and his team are busy telling the world that since things were not moving in the right direction in the I.N.D.I.A alliance, he decided to jump ship. This........

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