The man who gave Bihar a new dawn
It is difficult to accept two instances from decisive moments in Kumar’s career that are narrated in the book, as non-partisan observations and one is more inclined to view them as sympathetic accounts. Unfortunately, both also display Kumar as a poor judge of circumstances and as a leader with little political foresight, someone with little ability to anticipate moves of adversaries. In the first instance, the writer narrates how Kumar got “trapped” by Bahubalis — or elected warlords, into getting photographed with them in 2000 when he made the failed bid to become chief minister. The second instance is the famous hand grab with Narendra Modi during the 2009 Lok Sabha campaign. On both occasions, Kumar is presented as a victim of conspiracy. Such depiction is kind-hearted at one level, but on the other hand if this is actually a true account then one must say that the Bihar chief minister has been extremely fortunate to reach the position he is in today because one cannot be so guileless and yet acquire political power in the treacherous world of power politics.
