Patna, May 20: Projection of a chief ministerial candidate remains a contentious issue between the RJD and JDU despite talks of a merger.

JDU national president Sharad Yadav recently said the Janata Parivar merger was a reality, but sources say RJD chief Lalu Prasad is not willing to accept Nitish Kumar as chief ministerial candidate in the Assembly polls. He feels the legislature party leader should be selected after the polls.

There are two logics for that. One, the RJD wants to make its own man chief minister in case more candidates from its quota win. Second, Lalu has feedback that Yadavs may not vote for once-JDU candidates if Nitish is projected as chief ministerial candidate. The views were corroborated by a senior RJD leader and Lalu confidante. In fact, in constituencies where candidates selected by the JDU group are fielded, Yadav voters could vote for the NDA, it is feared.

During a recent one-to-one in New Delhi, Lalu and Nitish discussed who should be the face of the Assembly poll and Lalu said the chief minister should be selected after the election. "There is no problem over seat-sharing between the RJD and JDU. What matters for Lalu ji is Nitish should not be projected as CM candidate or face of the Assembly polls. Laluji conveyed this to Nitish.

The Yadavs, the single largest caste in Bihar, constitute over 15 per cent of the state's population. In his heyday, Lalu won polls because of the Muslim-Yadav (MY) arithmetic. Muslims constitute over 13 per cent of the population.

But Lalu's fear about the Yadavs shifting loyalty is not unfounded. A large number of Yadavs voted for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

The Yadavs are not particularly fond of Nitish, as they feel neglected ever since he ensured participation of extremely backward classes (EBC) in power by reserving 50 per cent seats in local bodies. The EBCs, who constitute 26 per cent of the state's population, have a soft corner for Nitish and traditionally hate the Yadavs, because of their dominant nature and alleged atrocities on EBCs.

But the BJP has started poaching into some EBC castes, who have kept Nitish in power for several years.

"If a face is projected before the election, the Yadav vote would get scattered. The uppers castes already do not like us and have never voted with the Yadavs since Lalu became a Mandal messiah. So, the RJD, at any cost, does not want to lose its base vote. Let the poll be held in alliance with no announcement of leader," said a senior RJD leader on condition of anonymity.

The leadership question has been posed at Lalu and Nitish several times, but both have evaded it. Last month, when Lalu was in Patna, The Telegraph asked him about the alliance leadership. He said the media should not bother as such things are discussed at closed-door meetings.

Many JDU leader have made comments though. JDU national general secretary K.C. Tyagi said: "It would be good if polls are held projecting Nitish as CM candidate."

Left out of alliance

The CPI today disassociated itself from the JDU-RJD alliance for the Legislative Council polls. "We have decided to contest the Legislative Council polls in alliance with our Left peers, the CPI-ML(Liberation) and the CPM, to pursue Left unity," the CPI central committee secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters here.

The Left will contest 17 of 24 seats going to the polls in July. The CPI-ML(Liberation) is likely to contest 10 seats and the CPI and CPM four and three seats respectively. "A final decision would be taken tomorrow," Dasgupta said.

The JDU and RJD had decided to contest 10 Legislative Council seats each, leaving four for the Congress and the Left. But with the Left disassociating itself, it lies to be seen whether the Congress will join the RJD-JDU alliance.

Asked if this arrangement would extend to the Assembly polls, Dasgupta said: "It is a premature question. We have, so far, not deliberated on the strategy."

But it was evident the CPI was keeping the door ajar for an alliance when Dasgupta said: "We have invited all secular parties to join our battle against the BJP's agenda to grab farmers' land through the land acquisition ordinance, convert India into a Hindu rashtra and build a temple after Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi."

He said the CPI national executive would meet in Delhi on May 23 and 24 to chalk out a plan on agitations. "Narendra Modi has dashed all democratic institutions. There is only a PM. Other functionaries figure only on paper," he said.