Jamshedpur/Ranchi, June 28: It has turned out to be a political as well as a public relations coup by the chief minister. With the leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly effusive in praising Arjun Munda, the gambit of inviting the Opposition leader to accompany him to New Delhi, appears to have paid off.

His mere presence at the National Development Council meeting had sent a powerful signal to the Centre, claimed leader of the Opposition, Sudhir Mahto, who has become the first Opposition leader from any state in the country to attend a meeting of the NDC.

Asked how he assisted the chief minister at the meeting, Mahto conceded that he did not have a chance to speak. But his presence, he insisted, was enough to indicate that on the question of development, the ruling coalition and the Opposition are united. His presence was also appreciated by Subodh Kant Sahay, minister of state for food and civil supplies, he claimed.

Mahto, who flew back to Jamshedpur this evening to look up his ailing mother, justified his trip and said he had already sought and obtained the permission of JMM chief Shibu Soren to attend the NDC meeting. He, however, was yet to get a sanction to accept the chief minister?s invitation to travel abroad next month.

Mahto did not attend the meeting of the inter-state council in New Delhi today. He, however, was fulsome in his praise of chief minister Arjun Munda. The chief minister, he said, marshalled his facts well and his speech at the NDC was ?impressive?. ?Everybody listened to him attentively,? added a gushing Mahto, who also acknowledged that it was a learning experience for him.

While Munda is believed to have killed several birds with just this one stone, the invitation has left the Opposition in complete disarray, leaving them fretting and fuming.

The invitation, acknowledged as a master-stroke by his rivals, has divided the Opposition like never before. Leaders cutting across party lines have reacted with hostility to Mahto attending the NDC meeting in New Delhi.

They find it difficult to publicly voice their criticism because both Mahto and the chief minister have taken the stand that despite political differences, they are united on the issue of the state?s development. They have also said they would unitedly fight against the Centre?s discrimination.

The Opposition is also wary of the Munda-Mahto bonhomie because they suspect a deeper political design.

?Today it is Mahto while tomorrow the chief minister might be travelling with Shibu Soren himself,? said an exasperated Opposition leader, who is convinced that Munda is all set to either split the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or to win it over to his side. After all, Munda himself was in the JMM and was a prot?g? of Sudhir Mahto, the leader said.

The fact that Mahto is part of the nine-member delegation the chief minister will lead on a ?business trip? abroad, has come as the last straw. Communists, the Congress and the RJD ? all parties declared that they are uncomfortable with the idea. ?This way the chief minister is trying to buy off the Opposition,? felt one of the leaders.