New Delhi, Sept. 9: BJP's election minder for Bihar Ananth Kumar today stepped in to heal the breach caused by Jitan Ram Manjhi's digs at Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday and ensure that the first sign of disunity in the NDA coalition was nipped in the bud.

Along with BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, also in charge of Bihar, Ananth met Manjhi and Paswan separately today at his residence.

Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha recently became part of the BJP-helmed NDA, had lunch with Ananth and Yadav, while Paswan, accompanied by MP-son Chirag, spoke over tea.

"Everything is under control, things are moving in the right direction," said Yadav, adding, "The BJP and its allies are united in their goal to bring about ' parivartan' (change) in Bihar." While Yadav refused to share the nitty-gritty of the most important item on the NDA's agenda - seat distribution between allies - a source close to Manjhi said they "plainly" told the duo they wished to contest "at least" 40 of the 243 Assembly seats.

It is learnt that Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party, would want a similar number and could even ask for more given Manjhi's demand.

The third NDA constituent, Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, would be expected to jockey for at least 30 seats. "These things would become clear in a day or two because there is not much time left. Obviously, a good bargainer would pitch for an enhanced number while opening the negotiations. Our skills will kick in from now on because our job is to get the best bargain for ourselves," a BJP source said.

The BJP's immediate worry was to ensure Manjhi stopped snapping at Paswan. Yesterday, the former Bihar chief minister described himself as the "real" leader of the Mahadalits and dubbed Paswan as someone who was obsessed with his family.

It is learnt that the BJP instantly worked the wires to Manjhi and explained that remarks of this sort, even if they were intended to be a "bargaining chip" for seats, would not be countenanced.

Today, after meeting Ananth and Yadav, Manjhi said Paswan was like an older brother and "some ' nok-jhok' (friction) always occurred between siblings".

BJP sources said the preliminary exercise of a seat-wise analysis, based on the outcome of the last three Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, caste equations and "winnability", had been done with its allies.