New Delhi, Oct. 11 -- The Bihar assembly elections are following a pattern seen in recent assembly elections, especially those involving parties that have been in power for long, or alliances: proteges turning against mentors, and loyalists squabbling with each other, all for a shot at political relevance.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are all seeing this. Some attribute the phenomenon to the usual jockeying for tickets ahead of November's assembly election.

The JD(U) has been part of the ruling dispensation (both with the BJP and the RJD-Congress at different times) for 20 years, which means the current NDA alliance is the default long-term incumb...