Raj Thackeray softens, takes a U-turn of his threats to Nitish

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is heading to Mumbai and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will not oppose the visit.

A day after daring the Janata Dal (United) leader to attend Bihar Day celebrations in Mumbai on Sunday, Thackeray on Friday said he had no objection to the event because Kumar had assured him there was no political agenda.

"Nitish Kumar told me that he does not want to do politics over the celebration of 100 years of Bihar's creation and that the programme has no political agenda. After this, I have no objection to the event being held in Mumbai," he said.

Thackeray, who had earlier been involved in a war of words with Kumar's predecessor Lalu Prasad over observing Chhath festival in Mumbai, said he was told that the Bihar Day event was purely "socio-cultural".

Thackeray's climbdown came even as the BJP supported Kumar and the Congress-led Maharashtra government assured adequate protection for the Bihar Day function.BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "Nitish Kumar doesn't need an NOC to go anywhere.”

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