Patna, March 9: Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular leader Jitan Ram Manjhi today claimed that the outcome of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh would impact political alignments in Bihar.

Manjhi said that in case of a Samajwadi Party win, RJD leader Lalu Prasad would feel emboldened to remove Nitish Kumar as chief minister, as the RJD is the largest party in the Grand Alliance. In case of a BJP win, Manjhi said, Nitish would try to break away from RJD and seek a new alliance partner. "In case the BJP wins in UP, Lalu would look for a way to elevate his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as chief minister," Manjhi told The Telegraph. "Nitish can then remain chief minister with only the BJP's support."

Nitish's chances of going with the BJP increased when his party decided not to contest the UP elections even after holding rallies there. The move was seen as his way of helping the BJP, as the JDU would have got Kurmi votes (traditionally BJP voters) in UP. The buzz that Nitish was helping the BJP grew louder when Nitish decided not to campaign for the Congress-SP alliance.

Lalu had said Nitish should campaign for the alliance to defeat communal forces as the election would have a bearing on the nation too. But the JDU stayed away citing division of secular votes in UP.

Manjhi added: "If the Congress-SP form the government, Lalu will pressurise Nitish to leave his chair. Somewhere, Lalu feels he went behind bars because of Nitish... By hook or crook, he will make Tejashwi chief minister."

JDU sources agreed the outcome in UP would impact Bihar politics but nobody said so on quote. JDU national general secretary Shyam Rajak said: "Holi is far away. Manjhi should stop cooking biryani; it will become stale. "

RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui said it was a matter of concern whether UP results would impact Bihar but they would certainly impact India.