India, Nov. 16 -- The NDA did not win Bihar because of any single wave, scheme or caste bloc. It won because five different streams of politics-women's mobilisation, welfare saturation, caste recalibration, development optics and opposition disarray-aligned almost perfectly in its favour, transforming what began as a tight, uncertain contest into one of the most decisive mandates in the state's recent political history. Until the mid-point of campaigning, both alliances privately believed the race could go either way. But as Nitish Kumar intensified his outreach, women voters began consolidating, welfare benefits visibly hit the ground, and the caste arithmetic stabilised with the return of Paswan, Kushwaha and Manjhi, the contest tilted ...