Talking to newsmen in Patna he said it was not appropriate on the part of the chief minister to vilify performance of his predecessor in Bihar. This reflected his political “immaturity”.

It needs to be recalled that the Chief Minister had reportedly referred to prevalence of lawlessness and ‘kidnapping industry’ in the state during the earlier regime in an obvious reference to the 15-year of Lalu-Rabri regime. He also told the visitors as to how his government had worked hard to establish a rule of law in the state and ushered in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

Ram Vilas said that it goes against political ethics “when you run down your adversaries before foreign visitors.”

He said that he too had visited a number of countries, including Pakistan, but did not raise domestic political issues as “we are duty-bound to put up united face and represent the country during interaction with a foreign country and visitors from there.”

Nitish’s praise for his own government and criticism of the earlier ones did not go down well in other circles too. “What prompted him to boast his performance and criticize the past government before Pakistani delegation. After all we do not expect any certificate from them. It is the people of Bihar, who has to rate the performance of the government,” an observer, who wished not to be quoted said.