Incidentally, Nitish is yet to meet Mamata since she had become the chief minister of West Bengal in May 2011.

Though there are talks about a new alignment of political forces in the country in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, what remained a mystery is that if the meeting between the two chief ministers was so important why was it not better planned. Or Mamata could have even delayed her departure for New Delhi. Or was it just one-way offer?

Anyway a number of stories are doing the rounds in Patna and even in Kolkata too. But the truth is that by attending the meeting of the captains of industries in Kolkata––which Mamata also attended on the same day––Nitish wanted to hit two birds with one stone. He wanted to meet Mamata on the sidelines of the trip as well as address the industry. Due to fog or any other reason he could not see Mamata but addressed the industrialists where he reportedly said that land is no problem for them in Bihar.

But the trip to Kolkata has more to do with politics than business.

Political observers are of the view that Nitish in fact wanted to win over Mamata Banerjee and chief ministers of some backward states to emerge as the leader in the demand for special status. Mamata is also busy demanding special package, if not special status for West Bengal. But the moot question is will she allow Nitish to emerge as the leader of these deprived states, especially of eastern India.

The irony is that while President of Pakistan on Diwali day could adjust his programme for Nitish Kumar––when he visited that country for a week last month––the Bihar chief minister could not meet his West Bengal counterpart even though they both attended the same business conclave on the same day at the same venue.