NDA's Problem, 11 CM Candidates to Chose From

Chandrakant Naidu / Firstpost
With at least 11 NDA leaders harbouring chief ministerial ambitions choosing one would be an invitation to trouble. It is not just about nominating a leader before the elections but about sending right signals to diverse constituencies about most acceptable candidate if the alliance is returned to power. The Janata Parivar has partly solved the leadership issue. Its next hurdle lies in distributing the tickets. The NDA, on the other hand, has to get the 'Lalit Modi Gate' out of its way before it prepares for the battle. more

18 Students From a Bihar Village Crack IIT

Eighteen students from a village near Gaya in south Bihar are among some 26,000 candidates who cracked the entrance exam to the IIT or Indian Institute of Technology. And in a first, a girl from the village has also made it to the list of successful candidates. Cracking the IIT appears to be a tradition for the Bunkaron village. more

The Legend of Bihar School of Yoga

Ullekh NP / Open
Over the decades, more and more people—from common men to businessmen and celebrities to politicians— have come to Munger with a quest to learn ‘the yogi’s yoga’. It is often word-of-mouth publicity that has beckoned people from far and wide to the yoga ashram at Munger, 180 km from Bihar’s state capital Patna. more

BJP for a Kiran Bedi Moment in Bihar?

Dhirendra K Jha / Scroll
Manjhi may well have won over a section of Mahadalits, the poorest among Dalits in Bihar. But it will be a great deal harder for him to win over all or a significant section of the Scheduled Castes, especially since he will be contesting against a front that is being led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is credited to have brought Mahadalits to the centre of the state’s politics. more

90-Seat Worry for BJP in Bihar

The NDA lead in 173 assembly segments during 2014 Lok Sabha elections could witness an erosion of up to 90 assembly seats if the assembly wise votes of the partners of grand-alliance are taken together. Contesting separately, the partners of grand alliance could have defeated NDA in only 70 assembly seats. But, they have the potential to win as many as 160 assembly seats under the grand-alliance. more

Why Bihar matters so much for India... and Modi

Ullekh NP / OPEN

For the time being, Nitish is busy with Bihar2025, which is pitching hard for a revival of Bihar’s lost glory: it showcases the state as the seat of the great Maurya and Gupta empires, the land of Aryabhatta and Kautilya, home to ancient universities Nalanda and Vikramashila. The campaign claims that Bihar’s prominence waned in the decades after independence and that the man who can put it back on track and ride out the bad times is Nitish. more