Most promising are the state initiatives, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's in backward Bihar.

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The landslide re-election of Nitish Kumar as chief minister of Bihar in 2010 was another.

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"Nitish Kumar had been demanding such an assistance for years, but look at its timing, " he said.

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The BBC tried but was unable to get a response from Bihar's Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, on this question.

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Meanwhile, an important BJP ally, Nitish Kumar, has said Varun must be prosecuted.

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Yet in his budget in February this year, as last year, Nitish Kumar, the minister of railways, announced that there would be no increase in passenger fares.

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His predecessor at the railways, Nitish Kumar, now leads Bihar.

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Both Ms Banerjee and Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar state, model themselves as champions of federalism, but have had no "qualms in using central intervention powers to suit the interest of their respective parties", observes Mr Kailash.

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