The whispers are growing into loud decibels. From the streets of Patna, Bihar’s Capital, to the fields of outermost districts in the state, people are talking about the mysterious illness that allegedly ails their Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar. It is a disease that nobody knows about, but everyone speculates about. Medical experts are stumped too. They are unwilling to cross the medical borders and enter the realm of scientific uncertainty. But when pushed and probed, some of them contend that the Chief Minister is possibly suffering from a clutch of diseases that may ultimately lead to, or is leading to, destruction of nerve cells, and damage to the brain. In regular parlance, this is called dementia. But do not jump to the obvious conclusions. At present, there is no official, even unofficial, medical, or clinical proof. We are randomly veering into an uncharted territory, something like a black hole that sucks all possible, and impossible, knowledge. So, let us stick to political knowledge, which too can be based on unconfirmed reports, but generally has whiffs and mists of truths embedded in them. Political pundits contend that Bihar is being ruled by a former Chief Secretary of the state, and a Bihar-cadre IAS officer, who are posted at the Centre, deep within the matrix and maze of the Prime Minister’s Office. In essence, Bihar is being ruled by Delhi, Patna by New Delhi. Also consider the reported abnormal behaviour of Nitish Babu – touching PM Narendra Modi’s feet at a Patna Rally and state assembly’s Central Hall. His party members talk about his unconventional behaviour. Since this is a wrong time to criticise the Chief Minister, or talk ill of him, no one is raising a finger, or a hand. Apart from JDU, this suits the BJP, even Tejashwi Yadav, who has his eyes on the state’s throne.
