Nitish Kumar will take oath today as Chief Minister of Bihar for the tenth time. With 12 Lok Sabha seats, 4 Rajya Sabha seats and 85 seats in the Bihar Assembly, he is now the most important ally for Narendra Modi and the second most powerful figure in the NDA after the Prime Minister.

His much debated habit of switching sides to suit his political interests has paid off yet again. Call him an opportunist or untrustworthy if you like, but you cannot deny that he has been remarkably successful throughout his career.

Now comes the harder part. His rise places him in a zone that is likely to make the BJP leadership uneasy. Given his numbers and his record of sudden realignments, the ruling party could be working on a plan to contain him, the way they moved against Uddhav Thackeray in Mahara

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