The denial of special economic status to Bihar, which would entitle the state to extra funds, was his theme of the day. (File photo)
As the national election dates were announced on Wednesday, Nitish Kumar began his campaign in Bihar with a reality check in Champaran, one of the state's poorest regions, where he faced protests.
A woman complained that her job of cooking lunch for schools earned her just 1000 rupees, hardly enough to get her through the month.
The Chief Minister assured her that he would do what he could, but passed the blame on to the Centre for her poor wages. The denial of special economic status to Bihar, which would entitle the state to extra funds, was his theme of the day and is the pivot of his campaign in the state that has 40 Lok Sabha seats.
In rallies through the day, Mr Kumar focused on targeting the central government, the BJP, its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Ram Vilas Paswan, who resumed his ties with the BJP 12 years after distancing himself over the 2002 riots in Mr Modi's Gujarat.
"The BJP will not get anything here; they can say what they want. Look at the kind of people joining them. Those who used to say I quit (the BJP-led coalition) because of the Gujarat riots. Today, they are back," Mr Kumar said, not taking Mr Paswan's name.
The Chief Minister took a major gamble when he ended his Janata Dal United party's 17-year alliance with the BJP last year over the prominence given to Mr Modi, a man he alleges is divisive and did not do enough to check the communal riots in Gujarat 12 years ago.
On Monday, Mr Modi addressed a rally in Muzaffarpur, over 70 km from Patna, and attacked Nitish Kumar's credentials without naming him.
At his Bagaha rally, Nitish Kumar hit back, saying, "People will try and misrepresent facts. Koi aasmaan se farishta nahin aayega (no one will come from the sky to help us). We'll have to do this. People try and vitiate the atmosphere. We must maintain Hindu Muslim brotherhood and peace."