The new India Throngs of people have gathered in Begusarai district, Bihar, to hear Nitish Kumar, chief minister of India’s poorest state, speak. As his helicopter whirrs overhead, stragglers hurry along narrow paths between fields to join the swelling crowd. Men perch on boundary walls and rooftops, while hundreds of children jostle around the landing pad to be closest to the shiny blue Bell chopper.
The largely agrarian community has braved sapping, mid-afternoon temperatures of more than 40°C to hear a populist message. As Mr Kumar strides toward the podium surrounded by an armed police escort, local activists chant “Zindabad Nitish Kumar, zindabad!” (“Long live Nitish Kumar, long live!”) The heat, as much as the atmosphere of sweating expectation, is intense.
