PATNA, July 2 -- Two most prominent Dalit faces in Bihar politics -- Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan -- are central ministers in the Modi cabinet. This must be enough for people to believe that there is no rift in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and both these leaders are firmly behind the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar, asserted JDU MLC and party spokesman Neeraj Kumar on Wednesday.

The need for such a clarification, however, only unveils the discomfiture that the NDA's Dalit partners have brought upon the bloc at a time when the elections have entered the battle mode. The statement follows growing speculations that the two Dalit leaders are vying for bigger share in seat-sharing within the NDA and are also a...