Win or lose, Modi & Nitish will have to reboot their politics.
All other leaders need to do a rigorous brainstorming.
With the Bihar polls now behind us, it is anybody’s guess what surprise the ballot-box will spring on us today. This electoral test, billed by the media as Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge, is actually a life-and-political-death issue for Nitish Kumar, not Modi. If Nitish loses, his credibility is shot to pieces. If he wins, he soars on the national political landscape, and will be billed as a best alternative to Modi and even the Congress. All other non BJP leaders including the likes of Mulayam, Mayavati, Mamta and Jayalaita will like to rally around him just for the sake of countering Modi. But even if he wins, Nitish will have to reckon with a huge weight attached to his foot called Lalu. After the win result either the Mahagatbandhan might see a Mahabharat between "brothers" resulting in an early mid term poll or a genuine development of Bihar.
For Modi, the final results of the election will have consequences – both positive and negative. If he wins, despite the psychological boost, his opponents could become more bloody-minded in opposing his every move. No loser is worse than a sore loser. If he loses, his opponents will be jumping all over the place claiming he has lost his mandate to rule India. They will try and ensure that he cannot perform. A win may make the opposition more intransigent or less. They may gain confidence and thus be less unwilling to do business with Modi, or they may become more arrogant in the belief that Modi’s days are over.
