Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar will fly to Gujarat in the early hours of Tuesday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected BJP government there in what is being interpreted as an attempt to cement further his ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

"Our chief minister will be leaving in a chartered aircraft to Ahmedabad around 2.30am on Tuesday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Vijay Rupani as Gujarat CM. He will return to Patna around 3pm," said an aide of Nitish.

Before leaving for Gujarat, Nitish was to spend midnight at Patna Sahib to participate in the ongoing shukrana (thanksgiving) ceremony of the 350th Prakash Utsav or birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.

Nitish is to reach Ahmedabad at 5am and will leave for the Gandhinagar secretariat at 10.30am to attend the swearing-in of Vijay Rupani and his cabinet. Nitish will return to Ahmedabad airport at 1pm and fly to Patna.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and former legislator Sanjay Jha will accompany Nitish to Gujarat to participate in the event, which is expected to be attended by the who's who of the NDA, including the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah.

Nitish rejoined NDA a few months ago. His Gujarat visit is expected to further strengthen his ties with the BJP, and more importantly with Narendra Modi.

Nitish accepted a cheque of Rs 5 crore sent by the Gujarat government in the aftermath of the floods in north Bihar this year, although he had returned a cheque of a similar amount sent by the then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat sent in the aftermath of the 2008 Kosi tragedy.

Nitish had also predicted a victory for the BJP in the recent Gujarat elections despite the saffron party facing resistance due to demonetisation, GST and reservation demand by the Patidar community. Nitish had reasoned reason that Gujaratis will vote for the BJP because Narendra Modi is the PM and the son of the soil.

The Bihar chief minister, before forming government with the BJP, had also staunchly supported Prime Minister Modi on demonetisation and GST.