patna it was a landmark year for politics in bihar for many reasons the general elections being the most significant which has set the stage for an epic electoral battle when the assembly elections are held by the end of next yearas the year draws to a close the poll pot in the state is already on high heat especially after the jharkhand elections dented the postlok sabha poll euphoria in the ruling alliance with the jmmcongrjd alliance unseating the bjpled nda government with a landslide victoryneedless to say the jharkhand victory has come as the muchneeded shotinthearm for the opposition in bihar which was in disarray after the drubbing in the lok sabha polls with rjd drawing a nil and congress managing the lone facesaver for the mahagathbandhan by winning the kishanganj seatthe jduled nda on the other hand has put up a brave face citing the stability of the alliance under the leadership of cm nitish kumar a consensus has also been reached between the three nda allies bjp jdu and ljp that nitish kumar will be the cm face of the alliance in the assembly polls with bjp chief amit shah putting to rest any speculation over the leadership issuehowever some jdu leaders created ripples within the nda by opposing the national register of citizens nrc in bihar nevertheless with both sides ready to take on each other in battleground 2020 toi takes a peek at the expected electoral gameplan for the new year in the backdrop of the political developments this year especially in the light of the bihar bypolls and the jharkhand assembly results bypoll results a wakeup call for nda the ruling nda performed poorly in the bypolls to five assembly segments in bihar held in october which was considered a litmus test for assembly elections to be held next year the nda managed to win just one with jdu bagging the nathnagar assembly seat jdu was seemingly the worst hit as it lost three of the four seats it contested the bypoll results came as the muchneeded fillip to rjd which was struggling to recover from the dismal performance in the lok sabha polls the rjd victory in two seats came at the expense of jdu nrc impact after the mild spat that followed after the swearingin ceremony of pm narendra modi over cabinet berths the nrc emerged as a major thorny issue between the two allies as cm nitish kumar categorically ruled out nrc in bihar even after supporting the citizenship amendment act with protests against nrc reported from across the country the ruling alliance has been cornered by the oppositionhowever bjp state vicepresident devesh kumar says nrc or caa will not have any adverse impact on the ruling alliance in bihar like the lok sabha elections this year we will fight bihar assembly elections on the development agenda with nitish kumar as the face of the alliance we will also tell the people how nda has worked for the welfare of