Already enthused by most exit polls giving it a clear advantage, the NDA is banking on three factors to retain power comfortably: a better social combination; welfare benefits for women, especially the “dashazari” scheme or the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, under which 1.5 crore prospective women entrepreneurs are eligible to receive Rs 10,000 in the first instalment; and an over-riding Nitish Kumar factor. If this works out, Nitish, who first became CM in October 2005, will take oath for the top job for a record 10th time.

For the NDA, there were a couple of things it had to do in the elections: get the social arithmetic right and play up the development narrative, especially the social welfare schemes. Given the importance of women’s vote in the rise of Nitish Kumar and his two d

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