New Delhi:
Nitish Kumar, 64, begins yet another term as Bihar's chief minister today. But, this time his role in Indian politics is unlikely to be confined to just engineering the state's development story.
The decisive victory of Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, together the 'Grand Alliance', over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar elections is widely expected to have a national impact.
In a demonstration of that, his oath ceremony brought together on a massive stage at Patna's Gandhi maidan, parties and politicians of many hues, all opposed to the BJP.
The Bihar victory propels Mr Kumar to the forefront of a possible anti-BJP front for the next general election, which could pitch him directly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 2019 national elections.
The BJP, by making Mr Modi and not a local leader the face its election campaign, turned the Bihar election into a battle between PM Modi and Nitish Kumar, arch political rivals for many years. The election pitched PM Modi's development plank versus Mr Kumar's.
In the 10 years of his regime so far - interrupted by a brief period last year when he installed Jitam Ram Manjhi as chief minister after his party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha election - Bihar registered higher growth than some more developed states.
"From the national perspective, the result is significant," said Mr Kumar on the day of the results, flanked by partner and RJD chief Lalu Yadav who was quick to announce that despite getting more seats than the JDU, Mr Kumar would continue to be the chief minister. "It is now clear that people want a strong and united opposition (in the country)...There will be a national impact (of the Bihar verdict)," he said. "In the national context, Bihar understands its responsibility."
Mr Kumar, who trained to be a civil engineer, laid the foundation for this day in 2013, when he ended his party's 17-year alliance with the BJP for its decision to project Mr Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 national election.
The soft spoken Mr Kumar is known to take chances. After two unsuccessful elections in 1977 and 1980, his family wanted him to quit politics and take up a job. He not only convinced his wife, a teacher, to let him have another go but also to part with her savings to fund his next election, in 1985, which he won with Mr Yadav's help.
The two fell apart and Mr Kumar exited the Janata Dal in 1993. In 2014, when Mr Yadav's party won just four Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and Mr Kumar's two, he reached out to Mr Yadav again, laying the foundation for a winning alliance.