Patna, Sept. 14: The dice has turned.

It was widely perceived that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was reticent of showing up with RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Of late, there are evidences that the wily Lalu has been "ignoring" the Congress high command - comprising Sonia Gandhi and Rahul.

Senior Congress leaders - Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Ashok Choudhary, AICC secretary K.L. Sharma and BPCC chief spokesman Harkhu Jha - met Lalu apprising him about Rahul's "request" to join him at Bhimrao Ambedkhar's 125th anniversary at Ramnagar (West Champaran) on September 19. The leaders also met chief minister Nitish Kumar.

While Nitish has agreed to join Rahul, Lalu "politely" turned down the request, suggesting that his son Tejaswi and son-in-law, Ajay Yadav, would join the Gandhi scion as he was "preoccupied" with the nomination by the grand alliance's candidates.

It is not for the first time that Lalu has ignored the "opportunity" to cosy up with the Nehru-Gandhi family. Lalu stayed seated in his chair while Nitish went downstairs to receive Sonia and brought her escorting on the dais for the grand alliance's Swabhiman Rally on August 30. Most of the leaders walked up to Sonia to share pleasantries. Lalu did not move from his chair.

While addressing the meeting, Lalu made the loss of warmth between him and the Congress obvious in the lighter vein. " Aaj kal Madam naaraj chal rahi hain. Main tou hamesha unke saath khade rahe hoon (These days Sonia is unhappy but I have always stood behind her)."

Lalu had also skipped the Iftar thrown by Sonia that was attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul, Nitish and others on July 13. In fact, Lalu organised his own Iftar at his 10 Circular Road residence here on the same day.

Why is there a "loss of warmth" between Lalu and the Nehru-Gandhi family? A top source close to Lalu revealed that the RJD boss was aggrieved at losing the "most-favoured treatment" in the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has "preferred" Nitish to him.

That the Congress high command has been "preferring" Nitish to Lalu became evident when Rahul met the chief minister and threw his weight behind him ahead of Janata parivar meeting at Mulayam Singh Yadav's house in July. "It was Rahul's weight behind Nitish that led Lalu to buckle and accept Nitish as the chief minister nominee," a senior Congress leader said.

A veteran of many battles behind the veneer of a light-hearted and rustic persona, Lalu has apparently perceived that Nitish has wrested the "most-favoured treatment" that he enjoyed with the Nehru-Gandhi family since 1995-96. Lalu had won Sonia's heart by describing her as "Bharat ki bahu (daughter-in-law of India)", when her colleagues like Sharad Pawar and P.A. Sangma had deserted her joining the BJP's campaign against her foreign origin.

The Congress strategists have, belatedly, sensed that the grand alliance's victory against BJP "hinged" more on Lalu's charisma and mass base than Nitish's articulate ways of presentation.

"A hurt Lalu will weaken the grand alliance's cause. We are doing our best to keep Lalu in a good humour," a Delhi-based AICC functionary from Bihar said.