In the quest for victory in 2019, the country is being set aflame

It is difficult to be optimistic about Indian politics in the run-up to 2019

A concern widely expressed in circles friendly to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the last assembly elections in Bihar was that a return of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to power in Patna would unleash “jungle raj”. The assumption was that even a coalition with the law-and-order focused Nitish Kumar would fail to restrain the RJD. Well, the RJD is out of the ruling coalition, Prasad is in custody, and the BJP is now Kumar’s partner. And yet Bihar is burning. Foreign journalists are putting out disturbing visuals from the environs of Samastipur and Aurangabad, that they say