Patna: They sat next to each other and cracked a few jokes between themselves. Prime Minister's Narendra Modi on his first visit to Bihar after his party's bitter election defeat did not give any indications of his rivalry with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Both of them looked very relaxed as they shared the stage at the inauguration of the newly constructed Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge in Hajipur.
The PM even got up to ask a section of the crowd to be quiet when they chanted "Modi, Modi" while Kumar was speaking. CM Kumar thanked the Prime Minister for finding time to come for the inauguration.
Modi in his speech expressed hope that the central and state governments will work together in bringing development to Bihar. He pointed out that the Hajipur project was initiated several years ago when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and Nitish Kumar the union railway minister.
An hour earlier, at the centenary celebrations of the Patna High Court, such bonhomie was not evident as the two leaders sat far apart from each other.
Modi who has shared a contentious relationship with Kumar in the past, also chose the occasion to laud the Bihar CM's interest in the Centre's rural electrification scheme in Bihar.
"I am grateful to Nitish ji. Work is progressing with speed in Bihar due to his efforts. If the central government and the Bihar government decisively work, we can finish the work fast and make a proud Bihar," he said.
Kumar had snapped his 17-year-old ties with BJP in June 2013 when the party was set to project Modi as prime ministerial candidate.
After having lost badly to the Narendra Modi-led NDA in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar staged a comeback in 2015 assembly elections in Bihar in alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD and Congress.
In the Bihar elections, the Grand Alliance led by Nitish Kumar bagged 178 of the 243 states while the NDA, which had Modi leading the campaign, finished with only 58.
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