Patna:
Much bonhomie told the story of changed political equations as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shared stage with Union Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal of the Congress last evening.
The two leaders were laying the foundation for a technology institute in rural Patna.
Mr Kumar praised Mr Sibal for being a "learned advocate" as he sought his assistance to get special status for Bihar "to help it overcome backwardness."
The Bihar Chief Minister's special status demand is old. But the warm vibes with Congressmen is new. Mr Kumar's party, the Janata Dal (United) severed its 17-year-old ties with the BJP last month over the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's election campaign committee chief.
But days before they separated, and when it was already apparent that the partnership was at breakpoint, Mr Kumar had courted the BJP's criticism by escorting visiting Finance Minister P Chidambaram to the Congress headquarters in Patna.
That gesture had sparked much speculation about new political alignments before the 2014 general elections.
Today the BJP's former ally seemed to side with the Congress in its reaction to the CBI's politically controversial chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan case. Mr Kumar's party colleague Shivanand Tiwari said, "One thing is very clear that the Ishrat encounter was fake and she had nothing to do with terrorism."
The CBI has accused seven Gujarat policemen of murdering 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and three others nine years ago. The blight on the Gujarat administration comes as Mr Modi is within finishing line of getting his party's prime ministerial nomination.
It is that possibility that compelled Mr Kumar to break ties with the BJP; Mr Kumar accuses Mr Modi of not having done enough to prevent the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.