Ten years ago, just ahead of the 2005 Assembly elections in Bihar, the BJP-Janata Dal (United) had described Lalu Prasad Yadav's rule as "jungle raj". They dug up the sobriquet again during the 2010 elections, which re-elected them with a majority. Now, the descriptor is back in conversations in Bihar. This time, however, it is being used to describe Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's regime. Speaking at the party national executive session last week, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah accused Kumar of returning Bihar to "jungle raj". While some within the BJP conceded that the tag wasn't appropriate to describe Kumar's rule, they hoped it would go some way in offsetting caste loyalties and turning popular opinion against the Lalu-Nitish alliance in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due later this year.
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