Patna: Smear of curd on the forehead a year ago to chants this year, Makar Sankranti celebrations here on Sunday showed the changing political equations in Bihar.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar attended the dahi-chura feast at JDU state president Bashishtha Narayan Singh's residence on Sunday. Fifteen priests from Sant Pashupati Nath Ved Vidyalaya chanted "Swasti Vachan", a year after then "bade bhai" Lalu Prasad had smeared curd on Nitish's forehead like a tika.

Nitish had reached the venue at 12.45pm, over an hour late, by when most of the senior BJP leaders, including his deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, had finished their meal and left for the do at the LJP office.

As soon as he reached, Bashishtha welcomed Nitish with a bouquet before sitting between Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and the JDU state chief. Rajya Sabha leader of the JDU, RCP Singh, was on another sofa with other leaders Sanjay Singh and Shyam Rajak among others.

Disposable plates were brought out to serve Nitish but the chief minister just took one tilkut and asked not to be served anything else. Choudhary had eaten already but Nitish told him "you have to eat once again with me as well". Unable to refuse the chief minister, the Speaker had another plate of dahi-chura, tilkut, jaggery and mixed vegetables.

The two leaders were overheard talking about the attack on the chief minister's convoy on Friday. Nitish told Choudhary: "There was something suspicious in the incident because I have found out that development work was carried out in that hamlet. The way villagers pelted the convoy, it was not a sudden reaction. Something is fishy."

When Bashishtha's plate dropped on the floor during the conversation, Nitish asked for another plate for the state president. Little later, he left for the LJP office.

Among the leaders attending the JDU feast - arranged by JDU functionary Jag Jiwan Singh for 10,000 people - was former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Choudhary who had not been able to attend the Congress' meeting on Saturday.

Nearly 6,000 people had turned up at the JDU feast.