Enter the challengers
One of the main problems of unseating Lalu, who enjoyed power without accountability, was the lack of genuine alternatives in Bihar.
That began to change with kingmaker aspirant Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan (in the picture, with the garland) entering the battle for Bihar anew.
Paswan and Lalu had similar backgrounds: they were both products of JP's student movement, they were both self-avowed champions of the backward classes.
But, Paswan was seen as close to the BJP, who the Muslim populace were wary of. Paswan was a minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. That gave him power at the Centre, but weakness in his home state.
After the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Paswan joined the United Progressive Alliance government. And by February this year, he was warming up to the Congress in his state, just as Lalu was growing cold to them. Lalu got into a seat sharing argument with the Congress before the February elections to the state assembly. It was a move that would prove dear to him.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Nitish Kumar, also a former Lalu co-traveller, had charted a fresh course, and was harping on the much neglected word in Lalu's Bihar: development.
Also Read: 'I am still fighting': Paswan