Battle for Bihar

At the centre of India’s social churn and high political drama is Bihar, a state with great untapped potential. After bursting on to the scene in the late 1980s and becoming Bihar’s uncrowned ruler, Lalu Prasad Yadav was challenged by his erstwhile comrade Nitish Kumar. Unable to oust Lalu from power with his small, new party, Nitish made an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A quiet but canny politician, Nitish Kumar, as the chief minister, brought back law and order, roads, education and health to the fore of governance, aspects sorely lacking during Lalu’s long rule. But the entry of Narendra Modi into the national political scene in 2013 rocked the alliance’s boat. Nitish’s switching of alliance between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the BJP around that time cost him enormously in terms of political goodwill. Will Nitish be able to restore his esteem by making Bihar a model state for India’s post-Independence journey? In this riveting narrative, seasoned journalist Arun Sinha tells the intertwined stories of Bihar’s political theatre and Nitish’s rule with incisive candour and in-depth research. The Battle for Bihar is a clear-sighted study of the turbulent state that could show India’s politics its way forward.Read more

Arun Sinha is one of India’s veteran journalists and has worked for the Indian Express, the Times of India (Bihar edition), the Economic and Political Weekly and the Free Press Journal. Renowned for his path-breaking investigative journalism, he was the first Reuters Fellow from India at Oxford. Since 1993, he has been the editor of the Navhind Times, Goa. His other books include Against the Few: Struggles of India’s Rural Poor and Goa Indica.