Before the Assembly elections were announced in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was much condemned politician of the state -- a man facing 20 years of anti-incumbency, targeted by the Opposition for being remote-controlled by the BJP, and the saffron party, though acknowledging him as the NDA's leader, stopping short of announcing him as the CM face. Worst, his "mental health" has been questioned by the RJD and the Congress, and in private by BJP leaders.

Yet, half way through the poll, the perception has changed. Nitish has mostly avoided the limelight of being next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and preferred to go solo in his campaigning. When a much younger politician, Tejashwi Yadav, preferred to remain at home as weather conditions grounded helicopters, and he preferred to addre

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