Patna, March 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking deputy chief minister Tejaswi's barbs at him in his stride, today appreciated the performance of the young minister.

Modi patted Tejaswi on the back while alighting from the stage at a function in Vaishali district's Choukia. Tejaswi, the son of former railway minister Lalu Prasad, has been making critical statements against Modi. Even on the eve of his visit, Tejaswi had accused the Prime Minister of saying something and doing something else.

Tejaswi was invited to the function being held on a ground in Vaishali, 25km north of Patna, under the Raghopur Assembly constituency that Tejaswi represents after defeating the BJP's Satish Kumar.

Tejaswi was the first leader to take the stage much before the Prime Minister arrived.

Asked about his brief interaction with the Prime Minister, Tejaswi said: "He enquired about my father's health. I told Modi ji he was doing well. Modiji said he was meeting me for the first time to which I reminded him of our meeting at my sister's (Raj Lakshmi) wedding in Saifai. Today was the first time we met after I became deputy chief minister." Modi attended Tejaswi's sister's wedding in February 2015.

Tejaswi was the second person Modi spoke to during the programme except Nitish.

When Prime Minister Modi's helicopter landed in which Nitish was also present, Tejaswi went to the helipad along with other senior leaders such as Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan, Radha Mohan Singh, Upendra Kushwaha, Ram Kripal Yadav, Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Suresh Prabhu and Manoj Sinha.

Elaborating on the interaction, Tejaswi said: "Modi ji exchanged courtesies with me. He said 'aap kaaphi young hai aur kaaphi achha kar rahe hai, issi tarah se lage rahiye (You are very young and you are doing very well, keep it up)'." Modi added that he watches Tejaswi on TV.

When Modi was interacting with Tejaswi, all senior leaders, including Nitish Kumar, railway minister Suresh Prabhu and others, were listening on carefully.

Tejaswi also wished Modi with folded hands when he was alighting from the stage and went up to the helipad to see him off.

On Friday, Tejaswi had attacked Modi, saying that he had cheated the people of Bihar by not fulfilling any promise he had made during the Assembly polls.

Asked how he felt attacking the Prime Minister when Modi appreciated his work, Tejaswi said: "Today's was a government function and not a political rally, so he showed his political maturity."