“Would Nitish Kumar remain chief minister if the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) were to secure a majority in the Bihar election?”
What began as this obvious question to Union home minister Amit Shah on Aaj Tak’s popular debate forum 'Panchayat Aaj Tak' in Patna on October 16 unfolded into something more consequential: a revealing fragment of dialogue that exposed the intricate mechanics of coalition politics and whose reverberations may yet shape Bihar’s political script long after the assembly poll results are declared on November 14.
Shah did not offer the emphatic reassurance that some in Nitish’s party, the Janata Dal (United), would have welcomed. Instead, with the deliberation of a man who understands the weight of words in a fragile alliance, he said the choice of chief minist