Bihar’s RJD-JD (U) - Congress alliance of 2015, which had halted the Narendra Modi tsunami, may have shattered in July 2017 with Nitish Kumar deserting it to revive his alliance with the BJP. But, the mahagathbandhan template has stayed, even expanded, in the state. In the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD earned new allies – RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Mukesh Saini’s VIP – while retaining its pact with the Congress. With polling for 19 of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha constituencies over, the RJD is confident that its grand alliance is set to score big when results are announced on May 23. The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Prof. Manoj Jha, spoke to Outlook’s Puneet Nicholas Yadav on various aspects of the election battle in Bihar.