Just hours after Nitish Kumar sought to take high “secular” ground and parted away from the BJP, ending the 17-year-old alliance, the BJP hit back strongly to leave him speechless and JD(U) dumb-founded. The saffron party has released a 2003 video in which Nitish is seen praising Modi.

The speech was delivered at the inaguration of a railway project in Gujarat. “I am certain that Narendrabhai Modi will not be confined to Gujarat for long and the country will get the benefit of his services. The Gujarat riots were sad. But we have to move on. It’s not right to focus only on one incident,” Nitish said in his speech, proving beyond doubt that he was the first leader outside the BJP to accept Modi’s charisma outside Gujarat.

Earlier, while breaking the ties with BJP, Nitish argued that Narendra Modi’s elevation was a big setback to the secular fabrics of the country. The BJP questioned why Nitish showered praise on Modi after 2002 riots and what made him change his mind now.

It is believed that Nitish Kumar’s own political ambitions and LK Advani’s tacit support were the main factors behind the crisis triggered by Nitish Kumar within NDA at a time, when the Congress-led UPA was on back foot. Ironically, Nitish chose to part ways when Modi sought votes on development plank.