Patna: As Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel tore into chief minister Nitish Kumar at a "Patel Awareness Conference" here on Saturday, it left tongues wagging about the purpose of his visit to Bihar and the "invisible hand" behind it.

Circumstantial evidence pointed towards the RJD hand behind the young leader, who happens to be just 24, coming to Bihar to ram into Nitish on the invitation of Sardar Patel Jagrukta Manch, a newly made front of Kurmis. Hardik also met RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in the evening.

Though both Hardik and Nitish belong to the Kurmi caste, Hardik's appeal to castemen for unity and to weed out the rotten mango from the fruit box was targeted at Nitish.

"I won't say much about the sponsors, but the fact that RJD leader Ran Kaushal Pratap Singh was prominently present on the big posters and hoardings put in different parts of Patna, including the space outside RJD leader Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi's house at 10, Circular Road, and also that he sat on the chair kept on the right hand side of Hardik shows the hand of Opposition in the event," said a resident of Patel Chhatrawas (hostel), a place known to be a centre of Kurmi politics here.

However, reacting to queries by The Telegraph, Ran Kaushal Pratap Singh said he was "very much with the RJD and had participated in the conference as it was connected to his Kurmi society".

The way the Patidar leader addressed Nitish as chacha also reminded people of the way Tejashwi addresses him.

For a state that reeks of caste-based politics, the move and words of Hardik indicated an effort to cut a slice of Kurmi votes away. This despite the fact that Nitish had supported Hardik in 2016 during Patidar reservation agitation.

The Kurmis, including their sub-castes Kushwahas and Dhanuks, claim to be around 12 per cent of Bihar's 11 crore population. Numerically, they are at the third position behind 16 per cent Muslims and 14 per cent Yadavs in the state. JDU MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the congregation was of people who have forgotten how much development chief minister Nitish Kumar has brought in Bihar.

"Nitish does not need a certificate from Hardik. Various Nobel Prize winners and even Bill Gates have come to Bihar and praised his work to take the state on the path of progress," Neeraj said.

"Here Hardik met Tejashwi, who is involved in various corruption cases. Did Tejashwi tell him how to function also as a handling and clearing agent and earn black money? We are wondering what he (Hardik) learnt from him," Neeraj added.