People forget that for 19 years since 2005, when he became CM for the first time, Nitish Kumar has merely stood his ground. It’s BJP, RJD, Congress, who fight to share his bed. They– Lalu Yadav, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi – are the real ‘Paltu Babus’, making contortions to accommodate Kumar. It will keep happening because Kumar is a rare Bihar politician who has transcended caste. Upper castes trust him more than they trust RJD and Congress. A significant chunk of OBCs, EBCs and Muslims trust him more than RJD and BJP. And his ‘LuvKush samikaran’ of Kurmis and Koeris trust him implicitly, as Lok Sabha results attest.