Patna:
Narendra Modi will be in Nitish Kumar's Patna today. He is visiting Bihar, along with other senior BJP leaders, to pay his respects to the BJP's veteran leader Kailashpati Mishra, who died on Saturday after prolonged illness.
Bihar's BJP president CP Thakur confirmed the Modi visit, saying, "Narendra Modi telephoned me to say he will be coming to Patna on Sunday to pay his condolences to Kailashpati Mishra." He will be received by the state's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
The BJP partners Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (united) in governing the state, but Mr Kumar will not be among those who will greet Mr Modi in Patna. And not just because he will be tied up with his massive show of strength - the Adhikar rally that he is holding in the city today to demand special economic status for Bihar.
Mr Kumar and Mr Modi do not share the most cordial relations. Mr Kumar has emphatically underscored ideological and political differences with Mr Modi and has openly questioned his secular credentials in statements that he doesn't attempt to sugarcoat. Mr Modi has responded in kind.
The Gujarat Chief Minster, who is the BJP's star campaigner, was not invited to campaign for the Bihar elections in 2005 and 2010 following strong protests by Mr Kumar.
Both men are said to nurse political ambitions beyond the boundaries of the states they govern and the supporters of both insist their leader is a potential Prime Minister.
Mr Modi will not be in Patna for long today. "The leaders would stay for a brief period and return after paying their condolences," Sushil Kumar Modi said. Apart from Mr Narendra Modi, BJP veteran LK Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar will visit Mr Mishra's residence in Patna.
(with PTI inputs)