India, Nov. 23 -- Unless he migrates from Bihar, an average Bihari earns only Rs 66,208 a year-less than a third of what an average Indian earns (Rs 205,324, currently). Even so, political trends in Bihar-the fight against the Emergency for instance-are often a harbinger of what follows later in other states.

And so it seems may be the case in the recently concluded assembly elections in Bihar: the NDA overcame a 20-year anti- incumbency to win an overwhelming mandate-202 out of 243 seats (BJP 89 seats; JDU 85, LJP 19). What was even more significant than the margin of this win were certain force multipliers that enabled this runaway victory.

It was not as if people did not vote for the Opposition. The decline in Opposition vote shares ...