While things may have cooled down a little on the political front in the country now, Bihar is clearly an exception to this scenario. The Election Commission (EC) has declared a two-phase Assembly elections in Bihar – on November 6 and 11 – with November 14, children’s day, being the D-day when votes will be counted.

That the outcome of the Bihar polls will have a bearing on national politics is to state the obvious. Bihar will set the tenor for the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2026, and more significantly, in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab a year later. Bihar also sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha – and numbers are crucial for the ruling BJP , which is short of a majority at the central level.

Equally important, Bihar may indicate the exte

See Full Page