Opinion: What's Chipping Away At The Nitish Kumar-BJP Alliance

Manish Kumar | Sunday July 03, 2022

To check the status of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's relationship with senior partner BJP, take a quick look at three incidents from the four-day assembly session last week.

Blog: Chirag Paswan Tried To Be Too Clever By Half

Manish Kumar | Monday June 14, 2021

The damage report for Chirag Paswan is in - and it's leaving the 38-year-old looking awfully shaky. He's been displaced as the leader of his party by a disgruntled uncle who today reportedly refused to meet him in Delhi.

Blog: Why Prashant Kishor's Next Job Matters A Whole Lot

Manish Kumar | Thursday June 03, 2021

Having announced his sanyas from one-party campaigns, Prashant Kishor is now his own client; his experience in rebranding will need to turn inward.

Blog: Chirag's Games Won't Dislodge Nitish. He Will Be Chief Minister

Manish Kumar | Friday October 09, 2020

While Chirag Paswan may be acting out in public and Nitish Kumar in private, it is the BJP whose beat is thumping. For the first time, it is contesting nearly the same number of seats as Nitish Kumar, proving its growing dominance in their arrangement.

Blog: Nitish Betrayed PM Modi, I Revere Him - By Chirag Paswan

As told to NDTV's Manish Kumar | Tuesday October 06, 2020

I'm in politics and and I also have a dream - of a different Bihar. Let me make it clear that I don't have any thing personal against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is also the face of the NDA in the approaching election. My decision to go solo and break from the NDA in Bihar was borne of my conviction that if my state has to develop, then it needs a double-engine go...

Blog: I Was With Kanhaiya Kumar When His Car Was Attacked

Manish Kumar | Friday February 14, 2020

For the seventh time in two weeks, Kanhaiya Kumar's convoy was targeted today as he drove through Gaya, part of his journey across Bihar to galvanize support against the controversial new citizenship law.

Blog: Behind The Scenes Of Nitish-BJP's Hard Pass On Cabinet Spots

Manish Kumar | Tuesday June 04, 2019

For Mr Kumar, then, this is a double role that must drag on: in public, the polite but self-assured ally who will stand his ground; privately, the politician who is boxed in by the knowledge that he is being put - and kept - in his place.

Blog: Nitish Kumar Cracks Down On BJP In Bihar To Prove He's Boss

Manish Kumar | Monday April 09, 2018

Nitish Kumar's supporters argue that his immediate clamping down on BJP leaders linked to last month's riots evidences his determination to put the BJP in its place if it crosses lines he has drawn an is unwilling to redraw.

Blog: Tejashwi Yadav Proves He's No "Pappu" - And Wins Big

Manish Kumar | Thursday March 15, 2018

The big learning in Bihar is this - Tejashwi Yadav can lead his party to victory even without his father at the centre of the RJD. His other message to Bihar is tongue-in-cheek - Chacha, he says, isn't old enough to lead you much longer; me, I can serve you for another 50 years; choose wisely.

Opinion: PM Modi's Snub To Nitish Kumar, Witnessed By 5,000 People

Manish Kumar | Monday October 16, 2017

Nitish Kumar offered Prime Minister Narendra Modi the opportunity to turn the once-prestigious Patna University into a campus entitled to funding from the centre. The Prime Minister passed. An audience of nearly 5,000 witnessed the exchange. And unsubtly, the Bihar Chief Minister was put in his place -again - by his new boss.

Opinion: In Amit Shah's Best Interest To Not Offend Nitish For Now

Manish Kumar | Sunday October 08, 2017

It was the Olympic Gold of political somersaults and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to manage a perfect landing right next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for years his main rival.

Blog: 10 Reasons Why Nitish Kumar Must Regret His Choice

Manish Kumar | Thursday November 06, 2014

When Nitish Kumar resigned as Chief Minister of Bihar this year, he said he was accepting responsibility for his party's humiliating result in the national election. The 63-year-old's Janata Dal United or JDU won just two of the state's 40 parliamentary seats. Mr Kumar picked as his successor Jitan Ram Manjhi, 72, a decision he must kick himself for every day.