PATNA: In this season of bonhomie comes a rare invitation from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party to the state’s BJP leaders for a special meal of “dahi chura and tilkut” on Sunday, when the Makar Sankranti festival will be celebrated. Bihar BJP leaders are yet to RSVP and are expected to check with Delhi whether they should attend.
While host and Bihar chief of the ruling Janata Dal United Vashista Narayan Singh confirmed that invitations had been sent to top BJP leaders, the opposition party’s state chief Nityanand Rai said the invites had not reached them yet. “We will take a call on whether to attend once we receive the invitation,” Mr Rai said.

The JD(U) always invites allies for the annual event, but this is the first time that it has also called an opposition party. Till 2013, the BJP, as a partner of Nitish Kumar’s party, was a regular. But BJP leaders have not attended the event after the two parties split in 2013.
Nitish Kumar’s current allies Lalu Yadav and his RJD and the Congress will be present. Mr Kumar will in fact first visit a similar function hosted by Lalu Yadav, before arriving at Vashista Narayan Singh’s home.
Earlier this week, the BJP confirmed its participation in a “human chain” that the state government is organising on January 21 to spread the message of prohibition. A world record will be attempted with people linked in the chain across over 11,000 km in the state. To be attended by over two crore Biharis.
BJP leaders say their decision to join the “human chain” was influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise for Nitish Kumar’s prohibition policy at a public rally in state capital Patna last week. PM Modi called it “inspirational.”
In recent weeks, Nitish Kumar has stood out among opposition leaders in his support for PM Modi’s notes ban aimed at eliminating corruption and black money.
The exchange of praise is in sharp contrast with the bitter attacks that the two leaders have made against each other for years. Nitish Kumar’s decision to end his party’s 17-year-long alliance with the BJP was prompted by the latter’s decision to project his arch political rival as presumptive Prime Minister for the 2014 national election.

The decision proved costly; the BJP and its allies won 32 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, while Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) could win only two. For the last assembly elections, Mr Kumar acquired his new partners and defeated the BJP to win another term as Chief Minister.ndtv.com

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