Switching sides before Bihar polls

In Bihar, two Janata Dal-United (JD-U) members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and one Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have quit the JD-U and Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party. Before that, four more rebel JD-U members were welcomed in the BJP. Is this a blessing or a curse ? The coming week will tell, as Bihar inches closer to assembly elections and is awaiting an announcement by the Election Commission any day. There are two theories: One, it is best for malcontents to leave the party. But, obviously, they haven't left for political hibernation. So, somebody in the BJP will have to make space for all these new entrants.

On the other hand, the number of those in the JD(U)-RJD who are competing for (fewer) number of seats will come down. The coming week will see more switching of sides.