Here is the tale of one of India’s most talked-about politicians as never told before, from the acclaimed biographer of Laloo Yadav. A dispassionate unlayering of the complex persona behind Nitish’s person: ditherer and gambler, tentative and determined, gullible and astute, effacing and ambitious,introvert and interventionist, loner in the crowds he courts.

Part personal diary of Bihar, part hard political portraiture, part unsparing perspective, a seamless weave of contemporary political shenanigans, reportage, storytelling and analysis from a dim corner of the country Nitish Kumar set out to light up. This is as much exploration of his zigzag but focused rise to power and what he means to Bihar as of what he could become on a larger stage.