Modi is Nitish's fig leaf to go it alone in Bihar

The Janata Dal (United)-BJP alliance in Bihar has endured for nearly two decades. Forged in the mid-1990s as a united front to take on Lalu Prasad Yadav who dominated Bihar politics after his initial victory over the Congress in 1990, the alliance was much more than a mere seat-sharing arrangement; it was also a social alliance. The BJP brought in the upper castes and a sprinkling of backward castes, and the JD(U) complemented it with substantial support from the non-Yadav backward castes.

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