They called him 'Paltu Chacha'. They called him 'Kursi Kumar'. They even mocked him as “mentally unstable.” But despite the barbs, Bihar's longest-serving Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar , has remained politically unsinkable. Now headed for a record tenth stint as Chief Minister, Nitish stands as one of India’s most durable political survivors, a man who has switched sides more frequently than any contemporary leader, yet never lost his grip on Bihar’s top post.

Since first taking oath in 2005, the 74-year-old leader has outplayed every rival and outlasted every alliance. His political currency, an image of Sushasan Babu, a core Extremely Backward Class (EBC) vote base, and an unmatched record of winning every assembly election since 2005, ensured that whether it was the NDA or the Mahagat

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