Nitish, PM to share dais after patch-up

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share the dais for the first time on Saturday after the JD(U) formed the state government with the NDA’s support.

The two leaders will share the dais on two occasions on October 14. The first will be during the centenary celebration of Patna University and the second occasion will be the foundation laying ceremony for a bridge on the Ganga at Mokama, around 100 km from here.

Modi visited Bihar in August for an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in north-eastern parts of the state.

The prime minister returned to the national capital after taking stock of the situation.

The centenary celebration is mired in a controversy after BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, and RJD chief Lalu Prasad complained of not receiving a “proper invitation”.

Vice-Chancellor R B Singh, however, denied the charge and said invitations had been sent to all the guests.

Earlier, Yashwant Sinha was expected to attend the event as he is an alumnus. He completed post-graduation in 1958 and taught till 1960, before cracking the civil services examination the same year.

Shatrughan Sinha, who does not enjoy a warm relation with the party central leadership, also studied here in the 1960s. And Lalu was Patna University Students’ Union president in the 1970s.