Motihari: The pictures may not show it, but the niggling tension between allies Janata Dal United and BJP over the recent communal flare-ups showed on the stage with chief minister Nitish Kumar gently reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi that social harmony was as important as cleanliness.

"Apart from cleanliness, peace and communal harmony are also important," Nitish said at the end of his speech at the National Convention of Swachhagrahis that Modi addressed in Motihari, around 153km north of Patna, on Tuesday.

"All communities have to be taken on board and respected. The country cannot develop without peace and social harmony. It cannot develop amidst tension and confrontation," the chief minister added.

The Prime Minister, who was the last speaker, said he appreciated the way Nitish's " kushal prashasan" (able administration) was fighting anti-social elements and corruption. "The NDA believes in sabka saath sabka vikas (support for all and development for all) and we are always making efforts in this direction," Modi said.

He declared that the state government and the Centre were coordinating fully for the development of Bihar. He highlighted the achievements of his government and alleged that the Opposition parties were trying to create hurdles because they were worried that if the poor became empowered, they would not be able to fool anyone. "They are now trying to create fissures among people," he alleged.

When Modi had visited Bihar in October last year, he had virtually snubbed Nitish by ignoring the chief minister's request to declare Patna University a central varsity. But with Lok Sabha elections looming and allies like the Telugu Desam Party deserting the BJP, the Prime Minister seemed to have extended an olive branch to Nitish that went beyond the projects worth Rs 6,600 crore Modi announced for Bihar.

BJP leaders who had questioned the state government's role in handling the communal flare-ups last month, such as Union ministers Giriraj Singh and Ashwini Choubey, were relegated to the sidelines at Tuesday's event.

Over 20,000 swachhagrahis (cleanliness volunteers) from across the country attended the event to mark the end of the centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha. For most of his speech, Modi stuck to the subject - from Satyagraha to Swachchagraha - and his aim to make India open defecation free by October 2, 2019.

Most speakers, such as deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Union ministers Radha Mohan Singh and Uma Bharti, also stuck to the subject. But Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan touched upon another issue over which the BJP lately finds itself on the backfoot.

"Reservation is our birthright and nobody can take it away," Paswan said. "The Dalit atrocities Act was created during the VP Singh regime. It was strengthened during Narendra Modi's regime."

There was "no vacancy" for the PM's post in 2019, Paswan declared.