On Nitish Kumar's birthday, PM Modi hails him for Bihar's development

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar on his birthday on Sunday describing him as "a popular leader who has risen from the grassroots."

"Greetings to Bihar's Chief Minister and my friend, Shri @NitishKumar Ji. A popular leader who has risen from the grassroots, he's been at the forefront of furthering Bihar's development. His passion towards social empowerment is noteworthy. Praying for his long and healthy life," Modi tweeted.

Nitish Kumar's Bihar became the first National Democratic Alliance-ruled state to pass a resolution on February 25 against the proposed National Register of Citizens which the BJP wants to implement in the country.

Nitish Kumar who will lead the NDA in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections said last week that alliance would win more than 200 of the 243 seats in the House.

The JD(U) which allied with the BJP for the first time outside Bihar to fight the Delhi assembly elections last month, drew a blank. It had contested two seats.

In January, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced that the BJP will contest the Bihar assembly elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar to end any doubts the party's own leaders may have harboured and also is a clear sign to JD(U) that the BJP believes the partnership, which has repeatedly delivered in Bihar in the last two decades, is mutually beneficial.

The JD(U)'s relation with the BJP has had its share of hiccups. Before Amit Shah's declaration in January, the JD(U) had taken strong exception to comments by some BJP leaders, particularly in regard to NDA's chief ministerial face for the Assembly polls and had asked its alliance partner to "rein in its loudmouths."

The JD(U)'s reaction had come after a statement by former Union minister and BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan, who had said that people of Bihar wanted to see a BJP leader as the Chief Minister.

(Inputs and image from hindustantimes.com)