New Delhi, Sept. 28: Rajnath Singh today drove to Sharad Yadav's residence for a "personal" meeting, fuelling speculations of a political positioning because it came close on the heels of chief minister Nitish Kumar and Sharad's selection to a government panel to commemorate the birth centenary of BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

Both the Union home minister and the JDU MP used words like "personal" and "courtesy" to describe their one-on-one confabulation.

"There is nothing at all. It is a personal matter," Sharad said. "Many leaders come to meet me. You should not read anything into it."

An aide of Rajnath Singh too termed the visit a "personal" one and said the two leaders share an old association and keep meeting.

In political circles, however, the meeting raised eyebrows as it came close on the heels of the selection of Nitish and Sharad to a 149-member panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and formed by the central government to commemorate Upadhyay's birth centenary.

The central government panel constituted last Friday also includes Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. No Congress leader is part of the panel.

BJP leaders saw the inclusion of Nitish in the panel as re-opening of contact between the two old allies given the uneasy relationship with the JDU's current partner RJD.

JDU leaders, however, rubbished any such suggestion.

"We are very comfortable with Lalu Prasad. All this is being spread to destabilise the Nitish Kumar government," said JDU national spokesman K.C. Tyagi.

He insisted that Nitish and Sharad's inclusion in the panel was "customary".

"We participate in the birth celebrations of all leaders across the political spectrum. We don't practise political untouchability," Tyagi said, asserting the issue will not dilute the JDU's fight against the BJP.

JDU sources said the central government did not take Nitish and Sharad's consent before including their names in the panel.