Chief minister Nitish Kumar (at Assembly on Thursday in picture) would have forgotten his birthday had Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not called him up. “I remembered my birthday because the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar called to wish me,” the birthday boy said. Once legislators recalled that it was the chief minister’s birthday, they trooped in at his Assembly office with bouquets in hand and wishes on lips. The women MLAs of NDA went a step forward and sang a line of Happy birthday to you. The birthday of Nitish Kumar, born in 1951, has been low-key compared to his main political rival in the state, Lalu Prasad. During the Lalu-Rabri days, RJD workers used to flock the official residence with huge cakes, flowers and sweets, which were followed by big bashes in the evening. Nitish, on the other hand, prefers to keep away party workers and leaders and accepts only formal greetings. Announcing Nitish’s birthday in the House, Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary wished Kumar a long and healthy life, which was met with thumping of desks. Thereafter, every NDA MLA rising to speak, wished the CM a happy birthday. Text by Dipak Mishra, picture by Deepak Kumar