Naveen Patnaik and Nitish Kumar

May 31: They differ vastly in their demeanour, but Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik, at the helm in Bihar and Orissa — states with a common past — appear to be coming closer with a willingness to work together.

The bonhomie between Naveen and Nitish, two powerful regional satraps ruling their states with brute majority, was evident at the two-day Planning Commission meet in Patna. Naveen, the socialite author-turned-politician, who landed in Patna yesterday, was, in fact, the only chief minister to grace the occasion hosted by his Bihar counterpart.

While the two chief ministers made common cause demanding special category status for their respective states, Naveen responded favourably to Nitish’s proposal for setting up a dedicated port on the Orissa coast to boost trade and investment in his land-locked state. Naveen also backed Nitish’s proposal for building a highway between Bakhtiyarpur and Paradip.

Though building inter-state highways and setting up the ports are matters subject to the wishes of the Centre, it was the gesture that was important — showing, as it did, their willingness to work together. Their camaraderie at the meet is supposed to be fraught with political consequences but no one is willing to hazard a guess at the moment.

“See, politics is the game of situational awareness and right moves at the right time. It is hard to predict the long term moves the two leaders are working on.

As of now, it is safe to conjecture that Naveen and Nitish are feeling increasingly comfortable working in close coordination with each other. And they are willing to cement their friendship further,” said a Janata Dal (United) leader in Patna.

On the face of it, the two leaders are a study in contrast. While Nitish, 60, is media-savvy and articulate, Naveen, who is four years older than his Bihar counterpart, maintains a safe distance from the press, opting for monosyllabic dialogues when necessary. Known to have a sweet tooth, Naveen is fond of chocolates and enjoys continental food whereas the Bihar chief minister loves “sattu” and prefers the more spartan “chapatti-sabji” for meals.

Both have supped with the BJP, but are opposed to the hardline stance of the party. They have managed to keep the BJP at bay in their own distinct ways. While Naveen dumped the party on the eve of the 2009 elections, bringing a decade-old alliance to an end, Nitish has forced the BJP to shed its saffron attire and morph into what he and his JD (U) stand for in principle as well as policies. The Bihar BJP adheres to what Nitish proposes and maintains a distance from the likes of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, whom Nitish even prevented from campaigning in the state.

Another commonality between the two chief ministers is their huge popularity in their respective states. While Naveen has won three Assembly elections back-to-back, beating all previous records in his third term, Nitish’s tally of MLAs too saw a sharp rise in his second term.

No wonder then that the growing proximity between Nitish and Naveen has set the political grapevine abuzz. The speculation ranges from the possibility of their joining the third front to creating some sort of political formation away from the BJP and Congress. Nothing seems impossible considering that on the eve of the last elections, Naveen was avidly wooed by both the Left-democratic combine and the NDA though he spurned their offers. Sources in the ruling Biju Janata Dal say that Naveen is keeping all options open, which gives a special meaning to his growing proximity to Nitish.