Ramdev's cream for Lalu

Yoga guru Ramdev and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad made a rare joint appearance on Wednesday, with the latter playing model for the former's Patanjali Ayurved. Ramdev rubbed his brand's cream on Prasad's face, saying: "It will add to the beauty of your face." A beaming Prasad endorsed Ramdev's fast moving consumer goods saying: "In soaps, there is excess soda, but not in Ramdev's. His soap has my cow's milk."

In politics, Ramdev and Prasad are known to be from opposing sides: Ramdev is a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre; Prasad is part of the Grand Alliance with, among others, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), which defeated the NDA in the state's Assembly polls. Prasad had earlier criticised Ramdev's politics but now all those differences, it seems, are forgotten.