NEW DELHI: If Nitish Kumar feared that being accosted by Narendra Modi at the NDC meeting would make bad PR for him, the Gujarat strongman was not interested.
Fresh from his third victory in the state and seeing himself as a strong PM candidate, Modi kept away from his Bihar counterpart who has not hidden his hostility towards him.
It marked a big change from the past when the Gujarat CM clasped Kumar's hands at the final NDA rally in Ludhiana ahead of the 2009 polls. The picture was not liked by Kumar who later flew into a rage when BJP put up posters during Bihar elections with the Ludhiana picture and details on how Gujarat government had made generous donations for flood relief in the state. Kumar, in fact, forced BJP to keep Modi out of the Bihar election campaign.
All this did not stop Modi from going up to Kumar for a handshake at the NDC meeting last year, if only to intensify attempts to increase his acceptability among NDA partners.
This time, though, it was different. Modi kept away from the 'gatecrash handshake' with Kumar who is known to live in dread of being ambushed by the Gujarat chief minister.
The two satraps appeal to different audiences. While Kumar has emerged as a choice for Muslims despite being a BJP ally, Modi has the stigma of 2002 riots that refuses to go away. The Bihar CM thinks perception of proximity to the Gujarat leader would be bad for his appeal among Muslims while making him vulnerable to attacks from rivals like Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan.
Though Modi has been trying hard to be seen as acceptable to allies, using his swearing in to showcase some of them, he may have felt that accosting Kumar again would show him as desperate.
Narendra Modi keeps away from Nitish Kumar at NDC
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Narendra Modi keeps away from Nitish Kumar at NDC
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Narendra Modi keeps away from Nitish Kumar at NDC
