Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav share stage after two decades

Bitter foes for almost two decades, former Bihar chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad on Monday hugged each other as they launched a joint campaign in support of their alliance candidates for the August 21 Assembly by-polls, and took on ruling BJP at the Centre. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

Nitish Kumar had parted ways with Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1994. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

Nitish Kumar succeeded in dethroning Lalu in Bihar in 2005 in alliance with BJP, said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre knows that it cannot fulfill the tall promises it has made and will resort to spreading religious passion to cling to power.(Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

"They can run government. They cannot run the country. Did 'achchhe din (good days)' come?" Nitish asked, referring to BJP's slogan during elections. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

Nitish Kumar said his alliance with Lalu, whose party RJD also fared poorly in polls but fetched more votes than JD(U), was the need of the hour as the country was in "danger". (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

Hitting out at BJP, Nitish Kumar said it is for the first time that those leaders are in power who did not spend a single day in jail during freedom struggle. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)

"Our forefathers sacrificed their lives. We all know the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Lohia, Vallabhbhai Patel, Ambedkar... Now those people are in the seat of power who did not spend a day behind bars," Nitish Kumar said, in an apparent attack on the BJP's ideological mentor RSS, which mostly kept away from political movements during the freedom struggle. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Ravi)