India, Nov. 16 -- It was a bright morning towards the end of 2009. We were having tea with a close confidante of Nitish Kumar. I asked him what was the secret of his leader's success. He said, "On the chessboard of politics Nitish babu, like a knight, can move two-and-a-half paces forward and backward simultaneously. His right hand is unaware of what his left hand is about to do." He insisted that even those closest to Nitish seldom knew what he would do the next moment. "Nitish babu maintains political decency and never launches any personal attacks on his opponents. This is the reason his friends are wary and foes are expectant. He will definitely have a couple of people in the opposite camp, as a need may arise to align with them in th...