RJD’s Manoj Jha (left); and Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

The defection of five RJD MLCs to the JD(U) and the resignation of RJD co-founder Raghuvansh Prasad Singh as national vice-president has put a spotlight on the anti-NDA camp in Bihar ahead of Assembly elections. Amid the rumblings in the RJD, senior leaders of the alliance, including senior Congress functionaries, met formally for the first time on Wednesday.

With just months to go for Assembly polls, all is not well in the RJD-led Opposition alliance. The smaller parties—former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S), Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikas-sheel Insaan Party (VIP)—are not agreeable to the idea of projecting Leader of Opposition and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate. The RJD, on the other hand, maintains the issue is “non-negotiable”.

“Nitish Kumar’s governance has been very poor this term. People are dissatisfied with him. It is an opportunity to dislodge him. But, the impression that Lalu’s son (Tejashwi) is the alternative gives Nitish an advantage. There is a lot of baggage with any member of Lalu’s family leading the fight,” said a top leader in the anti-NDA alliance in Bihar.

The RJD said it was open to discussion but hoped the other parties would understand its view.

“We will discuss it. But the fact is we are numerically the strongest party in Bihar, in terms of seat share or vote share. If the party has decided something, then how can we go back? What will we tell our rank and file? So, it is a question that others will sooner or later understand that issues are far more important. For RJD, it is non-negotiable,” RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha told The Indian Express.

Though they are not sure whether the RJD will concede this argument, the smaller players in the Opposition alliance are keen to impress “this ground reality” upon the Congress and are asking it to persuade Lalu to change tactics. Sources said they have conveyed this view to senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel. It is learnt that Kushwaha and Manjhi had a meeting with Patel on Tuesday.

Patel attended Wednesday’s virtual meeting with Manoj Kumar Jha, Manjhi, Kushwaha and Sahni. AICC general secretary in charge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha and Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh also joined. Patel and Venugopal attending the meeting signifies the importance the Congress attaches to smooth sailing of the alliance.

Sources said the issue of seat sharing or Tejashwi’s projection did not come up on Wednesday as it was a preliminary meeting. Sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tejashwi would soon meet. “Everything shall be settled,” a senior Congress leader said. But the smaller parties are still not convinced, and this issue is fast emerging as a sticking point in the alliance.

“This handicap (impression of Tejashwi leading) can only be addressed with the consent of Lalu. We hope the Congress realises this and persuades Lalu about an alternative mechanism where the RJD leads the alliance but doesn’t give the impression that it is Nitish vs Tejashwi battle,” said the Opposition leader, pinning hopes on the Congress to lend its weight.

The Congress, which has a close working relationship with the RJD and benefited from the alliance in 2015 Assembly elections is yet to make up its mind.

With polls just a few months away, the Covid pandemic has disrupted political activities in Bihar. But action has begun after senior BJP leader Amit Shah held a virtual rally of party workers early this month. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too has begun political stocktaking within his party. The defection of RJD MLCs, in fact, has virtually kickstarted the political action of leaders shifting camps.