India, Nov. 15 -- Bihar is a young state. It has the highest share of 18-35 year olds in an already young country. It is an impoverished state. It has among the smallest share of salaried private jobs in the country and among the highest share of people in agricultural jobs.

It is also a caste-skewed state. Numerically small upper-caste groups, such as Rajputs and Bhumihars, are over-represented in government jobs and land ownership while scheduled castes dominate in marginal blue-collar jobs such as masonry.

This trifecta of issues should have created a political landscape yearning for change - especially in a state where an ageing chief minister is presiding over a 20-year-old administration and a 35-year-old challenger was promising ...