The eastern state of Bihar has a population close in size to that of the Philippines: elections to its assembly matter greatly to its more than 100m, largely poor inhabitants. But the latest one mattered to Narendra Modi, the prime minister in Delhi, chiefly because of its importance in his quest to recast national politics to his advantage. And so the thrashing in Bihar of his Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp), at the hands of two Bihar political heavyweights who buried past enmities to oppose Mr Modi, represents the biggest setback in his political career.
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