BJP leaders invite Modi to rival Nitish's Bihar

December 26, 2012 21:32 IST

Soon after Narendra Modi was sworn in as the chief minister of Gujarat for the fourth time on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party's leaders from Bihar, who attended the ceremony, extended an invitation Modi to visit their state.

"Narendra Modi was invited to Bihar by leaders who attended the oath taking function," a BJP senior leader told rediff.com.

Modi is likely to visit Patna in March or April 2013 to address BJP's hunkar rally, another BJP leader said.

Interestingly, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal-United boycotted Modi's ceremony.

State BJP president C P Thakur and two BJP ministers in the Nitish Kumar-led government Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Griraj Singh attended the swearing-in. Besides, two BJP national leaders from Bihar -- Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain --

were also present.

The BJP leaders from Bihar seem to be paying little heed to the unfriendly ties between Modi and Nitish Kumar.

The Bihar CM did not congratulate Modi after his victory in the assembly polls. Insiders say he forced the BJP not to invite Modi to campaign both in the 2005 and 2010 assembly elections.

The BJP and Janata Dal-United relations have witnessed a dramatic up and down in last few months after Nitish Kumar said that it would not take a minute for his party to break ties with its ally if it projected Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox: