In the five-yearly examination to be held for the politicians of Bihar in October-November 2015 one of the candidates may be asked more questions than others.The candidate is Nitish Kumar, who would be facing the weight of incumbency too.

As the candidates of general quota have to perform better than those from the reserved quota, as the chief minister, he will have to score more if he wants to survive in this competition.

Apart from the performance of his government he may be asked to explain why he snapped ties with the BJP on June 16, 2013.The second, but more difficult question may be on revival of ties with ‘Bade Bhai’. If Lalu Prasad is so good than why Nitish had left no stone unturned to finish him off.

The third equally important question may be on his resignation. If he had quit why he made Jitan Ram Manjhi as the CM; and if the latter was trusted with the responsibility to lead till November 2015 why was he suddenly sent packing.

Another question may be on the merger. Why is Nitish so interested in finishing the very identity of Janata Dal (United)––the party which he nursed and groomed with so much dedication.

Now he wants to submerge its identity into the new ‘merged’ party. The Bihar CM is more keen on mega-merger than Mulayam Singh Yadav, Deve Gowda, Lalu Prasad and others. He went on to knock at the gate of Tihar Jail to meet Om Prakash Chautala.

What will happen if Manjhi stakes claim to the name of the party, JD(U), its flag and symbol (arrow). After all Nitish will not be interested in them. Suppose Manjhi gets the name, flag and symbol? How would the new merged party of Nitish fare. Will it not create confusion among non-BJP electorate.In contrast, the BJP leaders may have to answer less number of questions. The people may not blame them for the split in NDA as they know that it was Nitish who unilaterally threw all its ministers out. But what the people would ask the saffron leaders is the way they sketched larger-than-life profile of Nitish. To fight Lalu they went on to strength 'Chote Bhai’ so much that he became more deadly than the RJD chief.

Secondly the BJP leaders may find it difficult to explain whether Nitish’s almost 10 years rule––barring nine months of Manjhi––was a success or failure. The saffron party has failed to take any concrete stand as it had shared power for seven and a half years. On almost all the issues its leaders had been giving 100 per cent marks to the then NDA government.

Mark it, even on June 13, 2010––a day after the cancellation of dinner of the BJP top brass––at a public meeting in Patna all the speakers, including Lal Krishna Advani and Narendra Modi, without taking Nitish’s name, showered praise on the achievements of the then NDA government. Months later the then deputy CM, Sushil Kumar Modi, went on to see prime ministerial material in Nitish.

Unable to say much on the issues of performance the BJP is these days busy raising trivial or non-issues in the Assembly.On the other hand Lalu and Congress leaders may be asked as to what prompted them to embrace Nitish after such a long bitterness in relationship. RJD leaders like Pappu Yadav––whose wife is a Congress MP––is asking as to how can one accept merger with the man who was responsible for all the sufferings Lalu had to undergo.

Lalu may try to skirt the question now, but how would he fare when asked in exam. Besides, how would he highlight the achievements of Nitish’s rule when he had been critical of it all these years.

Voters may ask what had happened to his slogan of social justice and why has he not opted for Manjhi, a Dalit. Bihar is a unique state in one way. In less than a year––and without witnessing any Assembly election––almost all its 243 MLAs got opportunity to be a part of the ruling combination.

Till June 16, 2013, all the BJP legislators were ruling the roost. After May 22, 2014, RJD, Congress, CPI, and a few Independents joined hands with the JD (U).Almost all these 243 ladies and gentlemen may have to face the exam with hardly any scope of mass copying. Let us see how they perform.