Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressing at Swabhiman rally in Patna's Gandhi Maidan on Sunday. (PTI)
It was the BJP's "Jungle raj' jibe - a reference to what the BJP called the RJD misrule -- that had Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar strike a defensive pose at the non-BJP coalition's major show of strength in Patna today.
The Swabhiman rally, where the Chief Minister shared stage with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Lalu Prasad, provided the right platform for the attack on their common enemy - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
But while all three leaders were vocal about PM Modi's jibe at Mr Kumar's DNA, it was his charge of Jungle Raaj part 2 that Mr Kumar found hard to counter.
Not so long ago, the Chief Minister was at loggerheads with the RJD chief, whose government he had ousted 2005 on the very same charge. At the time, today's arch enemy BJP was his alliance partner.
Today, on the same side of the fence, the two leaders vigorously defended their ties and did their best to take off the Jungle raj tag.
Admitting that he was in alliance with the RJD, Mr Kumar said, "Till date Laluji has never asked me to go soft on any criminal. How is this Jungle raj? This is all propaganda."
Insisting there was rule of law in Bihar with a series of facts and figures, he added, "There will be no Jungle raj. I am the chief minister."
Mr Prasad let his outrage show. "I fought for social justice and you say I lorded over a Jungle Raj. It is only because of me that backward leaders got some recognition in the BJP."
"You say this is Jungle Raj part 2. No, this is Mangal Raj part 2 (the government of the good). When two backward leaders came together, the BJP started panicking. Now, they are saying Jungle Raj," he added.
The JD(U) and the RJD will contest 100 seats each in the 243-member Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled to be held by November-end. Ally Congress will contest on 40 seats, the remaining three will be contested by Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.