Nitish Kumar and Shakeel Ahmad Khan at the latter’s residence in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Nov. 7: Till last year, RJD chief Lalu Prasad used to visit the house of former MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan on Id-uz-Zoha. Today, the leader welcomed chief minister Nitish Kumar at his Ali Nagar house to celebrate the festival.

Shakeel, who recently switched from the RJD to the JD(U), was present at the main gate to receive his leader when Nitish stepped out of a Scorpio. Nitish usually travels in Ambassador cars but for occasions, where he needed to visit two to three places in city, he “preferred” a bigger car.

State human resource development minister P.K. Shahi was already present at Shakeel’s house when Nitish arrived.

Shakeel offered Nitish a skull cap which he accepted with a smile. Later the two hugged each other and exchanged festival greetings.

Nitish avoided the non-vegetarian fare and had some dry fruits. Some vegetarian dishes were also prepared for him but he chose not to eat them.

“On such a festival, he (Nitish) normally visits the house of close acquaintances from the Muslim community. But on the occasion of Id-uz-Zoha, Nitishji chose to visit my house. It’s a privilege for me as he came to my house for the first time,” Shakeel said.

He further said: “There is one thing remarkable about this great personality. He happily accepts the cap and scarf offered to him. He also tries to show affinity towards the people with the same fervour.”

Talking about Lalu, Shakeel said the RJD chief used to visit his house on every festival. When asked if he found anything different between the visits of the two leaders, Shakeel said: “I do not think it’s the right time to talk on such issues when celebrations are going on in the house.”