Together on stage but the distance remains.

In June 2010, chief minister Nitish Kumar cancelled a dinner for his then Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders on the eve of the party's national executive. The provocation - the latter apparently advocated his model of development in Bihar through a full-page newspaper advertisement that showed them holding hands during an NDA rally in Ludhiana before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Nitish had even made sure Modi did not campaign for the NDA in Bihar ahead of the 2010 Assembly elections. In June 2013, the JDU parted ways with the NDA after the latter declared Modi its prime ministerial candidate. Four months later, when Modi came to Patna to address the Hunkar Ral-ly bombs went off there.

Saturday's Veterinary College ground stage was different. Nitish and Modi shared the dais for the first time in any programme in the state. But they attacked each other in their speeches. They were seen talking and smiling throughout the event.

However, they left nothing to imagination in their speeches that they were in election mode and tried to overrun each other. "When I addressed a meeting here in 2013, amid bomb blasts, I had promised to give Bihar a Rs 50,000-crore economic package if I become the Prime Minister. But now I realise that this amount is inadequate. The package will be much larger and I will announce it at an appropriate time. I will not only keep the promises I made but it will also exceed it," he said.

The function was held to launch the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana aimed at strengthening rural electrification, inaugurate the new campus of IIT-Patna, lay the incubation centre for medicine devices at IIT-Patna, inaugurate the first phase of Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline project, which will lead to direct gas supply to households in several districts including Patna, revival of Barauni fertiliser factory, flag off the Rajgir-Biharsharif-Danihawan-Fatuha passenger train on a new track and a new train to Mumbai. While welcoming the Prime Minister, Nitish hinted his oft-repeated charge that they had "repackaged" projects. "In 2008, we provided 500 acres for the IIT and I request the Prime Minister that since there is a proper campus now, the number of branches should be expanded and agro-engineering, disaster management, aerospace engineering, earthquake mitigation and pure science should be included so that the state can get benefits," he added. He also recalled that the state government had signed an agreement with Gail in October 2013. Nitish said Ram Vilas Paswan, as Union minister for fertiliser, had announced reopening of the now defunct Barauni fertiliser factory in 2008. "We had waived off a Rs 300-crore power bill of the factory for this," Nitish stressed.

Nitish said the Rajgir-Biharsharif-Daniyawa-Fatuha tracks (inaugurated by Modi) had started when he was railway minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. "Vajpayee went to polls six months before schedule in 2004. Had the election been held as per schedule, these tracks would have been completed in 2004 itself," Nitish said. He also demanded the Centre's intervention for completion of the Barauni thermal plant and Rs 1,000 crore the state spent on national highways.

Modi, during his speech, said: "I agree with Nitish ji. The railway tracks should have been completed 10 years ago. But they brought a rail minister who stopped the work (Lalu Prasad was rail minister in the UPA-I government). A poor state like Bihar gave away Rs 300 crore for the Barauni fertiliser factory but the then government did nothing. My government will do it. The 13th Finance Commission gave Bihar only Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The 14th finance commission will give Bihar Rs 3.75 crore."