Nitish Kumar and PM Modi meet for the first time after Bihar elections

After leading the grand alliance to a spectacular victory in Bihar Assembly polls in a virtual one-on-one battle with him, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It was a courtesy call. There was no particular issue involved in the meeting," Kumar said after meeting Modi in the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament House.

Kumar-led grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress had trounced the BJP-led NDA after a bitter political campaign which saw Kumar and Modi launching a no-holds-barred attack on each other. Kumar also called on President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and presented a bouquet to him. Mukherjee congratulated him on becoming Bihar Chief Minister for the fifth time and conveyed his best wishes, a state government statement said.

This was the first visit of Kumar to the national capital after being sworn Chief Minister of Bihar on November 20.

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu was Centre's representative at the swearing in ceremony, which was attended by a galaxy of leaders from opposition parties. On his demand for a special package for Bihar, the Chief Minister told reporters, "I am hopeful that the Centre will honour the commitment made by the PM. I am hopeful it will be implemented."

Asked whether he would play a role in other state elections after Bihar success, he said, "I am doing my work in Bihar after the elections. Other political parties are there in other states. They will discuss and decide on it." Kumar is also attending the 75th birthday celebrations of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi.