Amid a raging storm over the Nitish Kumar government's response to the bail to of former Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Shahabuddin who was in prison over charges of murder, eminent historian and writer Ram Guha has said Mr Kumar has cut a Faustian deal by allying with Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Mr Guha who had previously called the Bihar chief minister "India's Barack Obama" and said India needed 15 or 20 Nitish Kumars, said this political blunder had cost Mr Kumar his reputation. The Nitish Kumar government has approached the court against the bail to Shahabuddin who is linked to his alliance partner Lalu Prasad Yadav.