Patna, July 11: The Bihar Congress is perturbed with the RJD and the JDU's fight on whether Tejashwi Yadav should remain seated in the deputy chief minister's chair.

State Congress chief Ashok Choudhary slammed the media for trying to destroy the bonhomie in the Grand Alliance.

However, he skipped a question on Tejashwi's continuation in the ministry.

"The JDU is a political party and will take its own stand," he said.

In the crossfire between RJD chief Lalu Prasad and the JDU, the Congress has stopped taking sides, as it has only 27 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly and to remain in power the continuation of the alliance between the JDU and the RJD is a must.

The day the CBI filed an FIR against Lalu Prasad, senior Congress leaders visited 10 Circular Road to show solidarity with the RJD chief, criticising the BJP government at the Centre for its "vindictive politics".

"But that was because Lalu ji represents secular forces. We cannot advise Nitish Kumar to keep Tejashwi Yadav despite an FIR against him for corruption," said a senior Congress leader, adding that the views of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on corruption was well known though Sonia Gandhi may have a soft corner for Lalu.

The party recently bent over to mend fences with Nitish after the war of words between the chief minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad over JDU supporting the NDA candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, for the presidential elections.

Azad offered an olive branch to Nitish saying that the Opposition had delayed naming their presidential candidate Meira Kumar. The decision to woo Nitish back was reportedly taken by Rahul Gandhi, who, according to sources, had asserted that they can't afford to lose Nitish because of his clean image.

Insiders pointed out that the Opposition's Vice-President candidate Gopal Krishna Gandhi was Nitish's first choice for the presidential post, which a section of Congress leaders in Delhi had sabotaged, angering the Bihar leader and pushing him towards the NDA.

The frustration of the Congress lies largely on the compulsion of keeping the Grand Alliance intact for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress, which was a major player in Bihar during the 1980s and mid-90s, has been pushed to being a fringe player as its committed voters - upper castes, Dalits and Muslims - deserted it for either the BJP or the RJD.

The past alliances with the RJD and the LJP have not worked for the Congress. But the alliance with Lalu and Nitish has worked wonders for the party pushing the tally in the Assembly from 4 to 27.

It hopes to win four to five Lok Sabha seats on its own in Bihar in 2019.

"For that we have to ensure that the Alliance of the three parties continues," said a senior Congress leader, expressing hope that a solution would be reached at and also Nitish stays in the Alliance.