Lalu Prasad has no use for mirrors. His defeat complete, his admission of a tactical mistake made, the routine post-loss introspection’s done for the man who, in a little more than three years, has plummeted from being king in Bihar and kingmaker in Delhi to neither, Lalu doesn’t need to stand before his ruins. He needs to begin, anew. But how does he move from here?

National trends in Verdict 2009 is where Lalu should begin — while they contain the lessons he must learn, they also provide him with solace and, perhaps even, hope. What the electorate’s done to Lalu is what it’s done to sundry others in both the northern and southern halves of the country. He, in that sense, hasn’t been singled out. Yet, 2009 has been a vote against spoilers, deserters, troublemakers. It is a verdict against those who refuse to tailor their politics to the evolving aspirations of their constituents. The grievance-identity votebanks that the likes of Lalu have been taking for granted — in both size and loyalty — haven’t paid off. For some, such as Lalu and Paswan, even less so than others.

The RJD’s fallen from 24 seats to four, the LJP’s drawn a blank. The SP’s still the largest party in UP, but its tally is lower. No wonder the Congress is now cold to them. As Lalu acknowledges the fourth front’s defeat, as he admits the folly of contesting without the Congress, does his memory stretch to that March moment when the combine was formed, with no possible goal other than a higher rent at the Centre? Verdict 2009 has been a vote for governance, stability and development; it has been a vote against most things the third and fourth fronts represented. The road ahead now for Lalu and company demands of them a politics of a distinctly different order. It begins with, not a tactical, but with a strategic shift.