Patna: Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's announcement that he was leaving the NDA to cross over to Lalu Prasad's side was not viewed with alarm in the NDA camp.

"It's Holi time. People do come and go to other places," said parliamentary affairs minister Srawan Kumar, while speaking to senior BJP leader and road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav.

Speculation is high on the "price" RJD paid Manjhi. "None so far," Tejashwi said. "When the alliance is formally made, Manjhi ji will get his due," said RJD MLA and trusted Lalu aide Bhola Yadav.

A few days ago Manjhi had quoted a price for remaining in the NDA - a Rajya Sabha seat. RJD sources say if Manjhi is to be sent to Rajya Sabha they will ensure his party merges with the RJD. "You can never be sure he'll not do another flip-flop if sent as a HAMS leader," said an RJD MLA, stressing that he thinks the deal had been done by just sending Manjhi's son to the Council.

Beginning in the Congress, Manjhi switched over to Lalu in the 1990s and was made minister. He later switched over to the JDU. He was sworn in as minister in 2005 only to be dropped the same day as his name figured in a vigilance case. He returned as minister once his name was cleared in 2010.

Manjhi was always a low-profile minister so everybody was surprised when Nitish made him chief minister in 2014. "It took him hardly seven months to turn against his mentor and even refuse to make way for Nitish. The BJP thought it had gained a game-changer and bowed to Manjhi's whims by giving him 22 Assembly seats in 2015 but he alone won," a BJP minister said.

"We still kept him in good humour, but he kept on making demands - for a Rajya Sabha seat or a governorship, in the process gaining direct access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But after Nitish's entry into the NDA, Manjhi's market value dwindled. Yet he refused to see the ground reality and continued to embarrass the NDA. We are relieved by his departure."

"His entry is a psychological gain for the party. He is yet to prove his electoral worth," an RJD leader said, recalling Tejashwi's recent statement that Manjhi says something in the morning and something else in the evening.

"He failed in the NDA. But when the party is trying to expand its base beyond its Muslim-Yadav combo, he is the only leader available at the moment," said a former RJD minister.