NEW DELHI, Feb. 5 -- For the common man walking along the streets of Patna, there is no doubt about it. Despite the thick winter fog on Sunday, January 28, it became as clear as crystal: Nitish Kumar is a snollygoster.

"I resonate with what Shashi Tharoor called the man. A snollygoster. Nitish is a vile, unprincipled politician, and we feel betrayed. Every fellow who voted for the Janata Dal united in the last election, didn't want to see the BJP in power. We didn't press the button in favour of the BJP!" spluttered my colleague over his cappuccino.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had just walked out of his alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, ditched the liberal politics of the INDIA tent, and waltzed into the arms of the right-wing BJP...