India, Nov. 6 -- In the run-up to the Bihar assembly polls, a photocopy shop in Gaya's Khizarsarai was crowded with people getting their worn-out and new voter identity cards photocopied. Some of them were doing so for paperwork for the schemes the new government was expected to launch.

Welfare schemes have played a key role in determining poll outcomes, and political parties in Bihar have sought to attract voters beyond their traditional supporters, largely determined by caste, through them.

Vijay Singh, 72, a Rajput, cited welfare schemes among the reasons for his continued support for chief minister Nitish Kumar and his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Singh received Rs.1,100 in August as an enha...