Mr Modi's real test case

Over the next five years, it will be Narendra not Nitish who will be under pressure to deliver vikas and atmanirbharta in Bihar

The Bharatiya Janata Party has much to cheer about in the party’s strong showing in Bihar, even though it turned out to be, as a British general once famously wrote in despatches over a century ago, “a damned near-run thing”. But beyond demonstrating Narendra Modi’s election-winning abilities, the state that has just come within his party’s fold could also be the real test case for the prime minister’s famed ability to deliver progress as he defines it — with corporations pouring in billions for manufacturing facilities, creating thousands of well- paid jobs and creating a haven of prosperity into which