The seat-sharing among the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners for the Bihar election has sent out a clear message, the Janata Dal (United) is no longer the senior partner in Bihar and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now an equal.

Both parties are contesting on 101 seats each in the 243-member Assembly this time. In the previous elections, the JD(U) has always fought on greater number of seats, projecting the party as the bada bhai , or elder brother, in Bihar politics with the BJP as its chhota bhai , or younger sibling.

Ever since the 2010 Assembly poll, the JD(U) and Mr. Kumar have been at the helm of the NDA, barring 2015 when he was part of the Mahagathbandhan. Two years later, he broke away from the grand alliance and teamed up with the BJP to form the governm

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