An Enigma called Bihar Elections

An Enigma called Bihar Elections:

Some call it "The dance of democracy", others "The great Indian tamasha".
Elections have come to acquire such vivid expressions in the popular imagination of India.
Bihar is one state where the election fever takes the shape of an epidemic. A hyper active beauraucracy during the five years of Nitish rule has meant that political activism largely remained on the fringes. But on the eve of elections the air is once again abuzz with a sense of opportunity.
"The old war horse","The Rabble rouser","The messiah of the poor","The champion of secularism" - the irrepressible Lalu Prasad is fighting the battle of a lifetime with his old friend turned foe "The sushasan kumar", "The vikas purush" of Bihar Nitish Kumar.
The media contends that it will be a smooth sail for Nitish.
Their assesment is largely based on the premise that fifteen years of Lalu-Rabri raj was the darkest period in Bihar's recent history and the general public is in no hurry to forget it.
Nitish himself is now harping back to the plank of reminding people of what they went through in those fifteen years.
But Bihar elections are far too complicated than what this oversimplistic assesment suggests.
Caste arithematic will once again play a decisive role in deciding the eventual winner.Having lost their dominance to Kurmis, the Yadavs will put all their weight behind Lalu. Similarly others too would look for greener pastures beyond the banners and advertisments of Vikas.
This would be very much a contest and at the end whether Nitish's arrow breaks Lalus laltern or ends up getting burned in its fire is something that remains to be seen.