The RJD on Wednesday called an emergency meeting of its legislators, district presidents and heads of cells without Lalu Prasad in attendance, a signal that the possible arrest of the party boss is looming large on the organisation.

This is the first time that such a meeting was called and Lalu was not present for it.

He is in Delhi for more than a week and Tejashwi too is there for almost a month. Both father and son have already thrice skipped the questioning of CBI in the railway hotels-for-land case.

The CBI has sent the father-son duo fresh notices to appear - Lalu on Thursday and Tejashwi the day after.

Whenever the RJD faces a crisis, Lalu goes into a huddle by calling his party men for a meeting. Such a meeting was called at the time of the collapse of the JDU-RJD-Congress Grand Alliance as well.

Wednesday's meeting at 10 Circular Road, an RJD insider said, was called to plan out the strategy on how to run the party in the absence of Lalu and Tejashwi. To that end, all legislators were instructed to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots level.

Senior RJD leader and former MP Jagadanand Singh, who presided over the meeting in the presence of Rabri Devi and Lalu's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, said the ruling party in the Centre wants Lalu out of the way in the big political battle looming ahead.

'The BJP is very much eager to send Lalu ji to jail so that they can contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election without any strong opponent, but we will not allow them to do so. The unity of the Opposition is intact. The BJP will do its conspiracies and we will do our duty,' Jagadanand told The Telegraph.

He, however, denied that Wednesday's meeting was called to discuss how to run the party without Lalu and Tejashwi.

But that the fear of Lalu being sent to jail is real could be gauged from the decision the party took. It announced that the election of the RJD's national president will be held on November 20 this year - much before Lalu's three-year tenure ends on January 17, 2019.

This development is crucial, RJD insiders stressed. The party, insiders said, believes firmly that the RJD may become headless if Lalu is sent behind bars. So, as a pre-emptive measure, the party wants to choose its new president before that.

Jagadanand, who has been appointed as the national returning officer for the election, said the RJD national executive committee meeting will be held on November 19, followed by the election of the national president at the party's national council meeting on November 20.

Jagadanand, accompanied by senior party leaders such as Abdul Bari Siddiqui and state unit president Ram Chandra Purbey, however, cited a different reason for conducting the party's presidential election before Lalu's tenure ends.

'You all know that in 2019, there is the Lok Sabha poll and in that situation it would be difficult for us to conduct election of the party so we have taken this decision to finish it this year itself,' Jagadanand said. 'It would be easier for us as legislators would get ample time to prepare for the Lok Sabha election followed by the Assembly election in 2020.'

RJD insiders said there is a possibility of change of guard in the party, and Tejashwi may be elected as the new RJD national president.

'He is already the leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly and he is leading 80 MLAs, so people should not be amazed if Tejashwi becomes the RJD national president,' a senior RJD leader who was present in the meeting told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity.

Asked if Lalu will become national president once again, Jagadanand said he cannot say anything before the election is complete. Asked about the possibility of Tejashwi becoming the RJD national president, Jagadanand said it was up to the party members.

Asked what was the need of calling an emergency meeting without waiting for Lalu and Tejashwi's return from Delhi, Jagadanand said: 'You should be happy to see that even though party is going through a tough phase we are capable of holding meeting in their absence. They (Lalu and Tejashwi) are doing their job there and we are doing our job here.'