Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and his predecessor Nitish Kumar on Tuesday put up a show of unity at the Sampark Yatra meet.

Majhi called himself “Lakshman” of Nitish, while the latter thanked the chief minister for introducing free education to girls from primary to university level, saying it is like carrying forward his unfinished work.

The occasion was the JDU workers’ meet at Gandhi Maidan in Jehanabad where Nitish too arrived around 3.25pm, 10 minutes after Manjhi. Manjhi stepped down from the dais to receive Nitish and even offered him the chair in which he was sitting. After a brief request session by both of them, finally Nitish sat in the chair.

Addressing the gathering, Manjhi termed Nitish him “bada bhai” (elder brother) and himself “Lakshman”. Manjhi even compared Nitish with Lord Krishna.

Like Krishna, who lifted Govardhan hill on his little finger, Nitishji has set up on his Sampark Yatra to create awareness among people against disruptive elements (read the BJP). “I can be poor but not dishonest. I will carry forward the works of Nitishji with full dedication and honesty,” he said.

Taking a dig at the critics, he said lot of development has been done within the state during the past nine years of the JDU leading the government.