Patna, Aug. 14: Cutting across partylines, politicians are praising rival leaders to position themselves in an opponent party in the future.

On Wednesday, BJP MLA Rana Gangeshwar Singh, openly praised chief minister Nitish Kumar at a function where the former was the chief guest.

The BJP MLA from Mohiuddinnagar in Samastipur not only praised Nitish but also blamed the BJP of breaking the alliance.

The MLA surfaced on the podium in the middle of the function at the time when Nitish was giving a speech. He quietly occupied the chair on the stage and left several people confused.

After the function when The Telegraph asked him about the reason behind attending the event, Singh said: “Nitishji is doing good work in the state. I have come here to see his development works carried out in the farming sector. I am inspired by his work. The BJP was wrong in breaking the alliance with the JD(U). Nitish is a big leader and the BJP should have tried to convince him before heading for a split.”

It is not the first time that BJP leaders have spoken against their party and leaders.

On July 21, the BJP had suspended the Hayaghat MLA, Amarnath Gami, for speaking against senior party leader Sushil Kumar Modi. Yesterday, two BJP leaders, Raghuvir Nandan and a former MLC, Ram Kishore Singh, joined the JD(U) in the presence of Nitish Kumar.

“I am there with Nitish Kumar and if the BJP feels I should leave, I would happily resign from the Assembly. My conscience lies with Nitishji and he is the gaurav (pride) of the state. The credit of all the development in Bihar goes to him,” Singh said.

He added that Nitish is a better prime ministerial candidate compared to his counterpart in Gujarat.

The RJD also suspended its MLC Naval Kishore Yadav for six years after he praised Narendra Modi.

At a function on Monday, Yadav had said: “Narendra Modi qualifies for the prime ministerial candidate. He has been doing good work in Gujarat and that’s the reason he was elected chief minister for the third time.”