The name of Nitish Kumar will not be on the ballot-sheet for the upcoming Presidential poll. Yet before the first vote is cast in what is being billed as a Battle of Biharis ~ one a born resident of the state, the other having been “adopted” after occupying the Raj Bhawan in Patna ~ it is the chief minister who has upstaged both those premier candidates in the allied-contest for seizing political space.

So while most predictions point to the poll for Raisina Hill going in favour of the BJP/NDA nominee, there is much speculation over the future course being plotted by Nitish Kumar.

“Will he or won’t he” switch his affinities from the Opposition to the ruling entity at the Centre, is the question exercising the pundits. Nitish had initially unhitched his wagon from the BJP when it opted for Narendra Modi as its superstar-in-waiting, and formed a “grand alliance” with Lalu Prasad to cement his place as chief minister.

Now it is a toss-up between Modi having cast off the “in waiting” part of the accolade, or Lalu’s shenanigans appearing to have caught up with him again that is causing Nitish to walk the political tightrope ~ keeping everyone guessing on which side he will jump.

Yet even before he just broke ranks with the rest of the Opposition ~ triggering a raging row with Lalu ~ Nitish had indicated a shift in his political wind. He had not joined in the tirade against the demonetisation misadventure.

That had not only incurred some displeasure of what had dubbed itself the UPA, but even proved irksome to the other JD(U) stalwart, Sharad Yadav. An “aside” to the Nitish drama is whether he is prepared to junk his team-mate too and toe the saffron line, adding a “third Bihari” dimension to the larger equation. Nitish does find himself in a bit of a fix. He extolled the virtues of Ram Nath Kovind, contending that it was a matter of pride that the Governor of his state should be tipped for Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Yet the Opposition’s nominating Meira Kumar “rocked the Nitish boat” a trifle, her “parochial” credentials” are more impressive. For apart from her hailing from the family of the tallest Dalit leader of the state, she has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Sasaram. In contrast, Kovind’s terms in the indirectly-elected Rajya Sabha were as a representative of UP, which Yogi Adiyanath has just underlined.

Aware that he could risk some “local” favour, Nitish is now bemoaning Kumar, “a daughter of Bihar” being made the sacrificial lamb. Indira Gandhi had used the V.V Giri-Sanjeeva Reddy contest to unyoke the twin bullocks of the “original” Congress.

Nitish is also playing for personal stakes next month.