Patna, Dec. 25: The Jharkhand Assembly election result has sent shivers down the spine of JDU and RJD leaders, who might now intend to speed-up the merger process between the two parties.

“We should take lessons from the Jharkhand elections and complete the merger process soon,” said RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

State JDU president Bashishtha Narayan Singh expressed similar views. Officially, the allies dubbed the Jharkhand results as an output of “incomplete alliance of secular forces”.

However, the shrinking of votes of both the RJD and JDU has worried them.

“The RJD lost in some of the Assembly segments dominated by the Yadavs. It means it’s losing its core votes. If it can happen in Jharkhand then it can happen in Bihar too?” said a JDU MLA.

The BJP — Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar’s main political adversary — are jubilant, claiming that Jharkhand’s outcome would be replicated in the 2015 Bihar elections.

“Both Laluji and Nitishji cannot claim that they fought the Jharkhand elections casually. Laluji campaigned in all the phases. Nitishji, too, addressed meetings at four places. Some Bihar ministers and RJD leaders had camped in Jharkhand. There were friendly fights in the three Assembly segments. Despite this, the two drew a blank,” said Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav,

According to RJD sources, the merger process of the two parties would begin after January 15.

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar had recently hinted that the leaders of both the parties were mentally prepared for merger and joint political activities would be held after January 15.

“The state presidentship of the new party would go to the RJD, while the JDU would retain its leadership in the legislative wings. The chief minister’s post would be projected that from the JDU, as it would be beneficial for us if Nitish Kumar is proposed as the chief minister,” said an RJD MLA.

Leaders of both the parties realise that the merger would not be without hurdles because there are leaders and MLAs on both sides, who are strongly opposed to the merger.

“But it is better if we go through the hurdles at an early stage than wait for the Assembly elections to be announced. More delay will encourage many of our leaders to switch sides to the BJP. The BJP has as many as 138 seats, where it needs candidates. It can draw out winning candidates from both sides, who are unsure if they will get a ticket in the merged party or not,” said a senior RJD leader, stressing that delays will only cause bickering and infighting just before the 2015 elections.

MLAs of both sides appeared a confused lot after the Jharkhand poll results.

“Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar may shake hands. But it does not mean that the voters of both the parties will shake hands at the ground level. If two and two is added and the vote percentage of both the parties is added, I will have no problem in winning my seat. But in politics, the simple two plus two, never always equals to four,” said a JDU MLA, echoing the scepticism over the merger.