Sources said Lalu had urged the party leaders to work together in this hour of crisis. “The entire party is intact. We have Rabri Devi as our leader. Every worker is a Lalu. We shall expose the conspiracy behind Lalu being sent to jail by the NDA, which also includes Nitish Kumar. We shall go to the masses and reveal how the investigation agency sent our leader to jail despite failing to trace even a single rupee of the scam money,” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav.

Mocking the agriculture minister, Narendra Singh, for saying “good RJD leaders” should join the JD(U), Yadav said: “Not a single RJD leader will go.”

The RJD leaders are putting up a brave front despite realising that difficulties would increase if Lalu’s stay in jail prolongs, said a political observer. “Right now, we are out to save our support base and the organisation. But if Laluji stays inside too long, it will have a demoralising impact on our party workers and supporters,” said a senior party leader.