Patna: The JDU is faced with unrest and grumbles on the inside since the bypoll defeats with legislators expressing concern before chief minister Nitish Kumar like never before.

At a legislators' meeting at 1 Aney Marg on Friday evening, legislators Ajay Mandal, Poonam Yadav and Tanvir Akhtar stressed that vitiating of social harmony by Union ministers like Giriraj Singh and Ashwini Choubey was giving the JDU a bad image.

"Chief minister Nitish Kumar asked them to ignore leaders like Giriraj and Ashiani and stressed that BJP leaders like Sushil Kumar Modi had made his stand clear on the issue," said another JDU legislator who was present on the occasion. But it still was a long way from the days when the legislators listened to Nitish silently, without raising questions.

The legislators pointed out that statements by state BJP chief Nityanand Rai that Araria would become an ISI centre if the RJD's Sarfaraz Alam won the bypoll damaged the JDU's prospects in the Jehanabad bypoll. "Chief minister Nitish Kumar's plea that party MLAs should remain focused on the issue of development did not appear to satisfy the MLAs and several of them complained about the writ of officials running strongly in Bihar, while they were being ignored," the JDU legislator said.

Legislators also expressed resentment towards the government's treatment of the sand crisis. JDU MLA Shyam Bahadur - rated among the few grassroots MLAs the party has - is reported to have aired the anger people in the rural areas have against the government because it snatched away the livelihood of a large population among the downtrodden classes.

Another MLA said: "Earlier the meetings used to be formalities in which Nitish ji gave a speech and we used to leave the venue after dinner. But this time most of the MLAs are worried. Some of them are actually talking about the lukewarm reception they get from their voters in their constituencies. There are talks about the draconian anti-liquor laws and police atrocities in clamping complete prohibition. The are talking on the lines of charges levelled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav against our government that the poor and weaker sections of the society are facing the brunt of the anti-liquor laws."

Nitish, too, appears to be aware of the ground-level realties. In his public statements he has attacked the move to brew social tension in Bihar and skipped talking about prohibition. "But he needs to go beyond words to restore the people's confidence," said the JDU MLA.