The BJP, with who Mr Kumar ended a 17-year alliance with on Sunday over its decision to place Narendra Modi in charge of its election campaign, decided to boycott the vote today, partly to escape  the embarrassing likelihood of some of its members supporting the chief minister. 
 
The Congress has said that its support for Mr Kumar should not be seen as the blueprint of a new alliance. But the sweet-talk from both sides suggests otherwise.

On Monday, the Prime Minister praised the chief minister as "a secular leader." Today, in his speech to the legislature, Mr Kumar thanked the PM and his party for its support.

The Congress and Mr Kumar, like other detractors of Mr Modi, accuse him of being a divisive leader.  Mr Modi was at the helm when riots lacerated Gujarat in 2002, leaving hundreds of Muslims dead. Mr Modi and the BJP have rejected charges that he didn’t do enough to protect them.

 Before winning a trust vote easily today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dedicated most of his speech to an attack on Narendra Modi, over whose promotion he ended his alliance with the BJP. In the style that has become his stock-in-trade, Mr Kumar did not name Mr Modi while faulting him on a series of fronts. (Read: Nitish wins trust vote, Congress backs him, BJP boycotts)

Mr Kumar said that for years, he had made it clear that he would not tolerate any linkage to Mr Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, who he has described as a divisive leader for failing to check the communal riots of 2002 in which hundreds of Muslims were killed in Gujarat.  "In 2005, for the state election, did an outsider come here? Was that person allowed here in 2009 for the national election campaign?" he asked.  (Highlights of Nitish Kumar’s speech)

He said that his party, the Janata Dal United or JD(U), decided there would be "no compromise on secularism" when it became clear that the BJP is priming Mr Modi to run for prime minister.
The BJP has denied that but two weeks ago, it placed Mr Modi in charge of its election campaign; its leaders said they were responding to the clamour from party cadres for a large role for its most popular leader.  "Don’t be tricked into thinking that the sentiment of party workers is that of the country," Mr Kumar said today. "This is an illusion...it will be shattered."

The Bihar Chief Minister also undermined the development of Gujarat, which Mr Modi often places at the top of his list of accomplishments. "The Bihar model is truly inclusive," Mr Kumar said, "we leave nobody behind. Hindus, Muslims, upper caste lower caste...we take them all into account in Bihar."

Mr Modi’s detractors say that his investor-friendly policies have not helped the poor in his state.  

The BJP was missing for Mr Kumar’s lengthy speech in the state legislature - its 91 members had walked out to boycott the vote.