Patna:
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has said his political rival Lalu Prasad Yadav has "mental bankruptcy" after Mr Yadav attacked him for shaking hands with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on the weekend.
Mr Kumar and Mr Modi were among 24 chief ministers who attended a meeting called by the Prime Minister on the new National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).
"People meet each other during a meeting. Whenever we go to the House, we meet other people. This statement shows his mental bankruptcy. He is very frustrated," Nitish said.
After the widely-photographed handshake, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a senior leader from Lalu's party said, "Nitish Kumar's outburst against Modi was a political hypocrisy. He has been trying to fool people. They are good friends in public as well in private." Other parties also shared their criticism. "The way a smiling Nitish Kumar met Modi and shook his hand like an old friend has exposed Kumar's double standards over his stand against Mr Modi in recent months," senior Congress leader Ashok Choudhary said.
Mr Kumar has been careful to keep Mr Modi at a safe distance, though his party is a member of the coalition led by Mr Modi's BJP. In campaigns for state and general elections in Bihar, Mr Kumar has not allowed Mr Modi to tour his state. The Bihar chief minister has enjoyed the confidence of his Muslim voters as a secular leader. Mr Modi is dogged by the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat, in which more than 1000 people were killed, most of them Muslim.
Differences between Mr Kumar and the BJP over Modi began three years ago when he expressed displeasure over newspaper advertisements featuring the two men together - an initiative allegedly aimed at leveraging Mr Kumar's secular image in favour of Mr Modi. Later, the Bhiar chief minister returned the money given by Gujarat to his state in 2008 for flood relief.