New Delhi, Aug. 12 :    New Delhi, Aug. 12:  Samata Party leader George Fernandes may be hopping from one city to another to keep National Democratic Alliance partners in good humour and fighting fire for the Prime Minister, but the ground beneath him appears to be shifting in his own party. Railway minister Nitish Kumar, whose Kurmi caste is the mainstay of the Samata Party in Bihar, has begun subtle moves to marginalise Fernandes, who is also convener of the NDA. The Tehelka revelations and Fernandes' forced resignation as defence minister subsequently weakened his grip on the party. Several MPs, who were earlier in the Fernandes camp, are warming up to Kumar. Some of them feel Fernandes is unlikely to come out unscathed from the Venkataswami Commission probe into the website disclosures. A party meeting held in Lok Sabha MP Renu Kumari's house last Tuesday turned out to be an occasion for the MPs to criticise Fernandes' style of functioning. Former Samata president Jaya Jaitly and Digvijay Singh made an appearance, but Fernandes did not attend. MPs are restive as no parliamentary party meeting has been held even though the monsoon session is half-way through. The last such meeting was held during the budget session. Sources said the Kumar camp was critical of Fernandes for first usurping power in Manipur and then creating a situation for the imposition of President's rule in the state. The BJP was also miffed at Fernandes as he prevented a BJP-led government from taking over in the state. Home minister L.K. Advani, sources said, is backing Kumar in the subtle power struggle in the Samata Party. While Fernandes is going around the country making friends - of late, he has met Mamata Banerjee, Balasaheb Thackeray and Chandrababu Naidu - Advani supporters view him as trying to emerge as leader number two in the NDA. The sources said the Kumar camp is peeved with Fernandes for bringing Digvijay Singh back into the railway ministry. Singh, who was shifted to commerce and industry as minister of state on July 22, did not take charge for a week. He wanted to continue in railways. His other option was external affairs or defence. But a sulking Singh was given additional charge of railways, much to the surprise of senior minister Kumar. Now, to settle scores, Kumar has withdrawn facilities of the minister of state on the grounds that Singh is holding only additional charge. Samata MPs Raghunath Jha and Prabhunath Singh are also learnt to be unhappy with Fernandes going out of his way to reinduct Singh into the railway ministry. For a year, the Kumar camp has been trying to achieve a Samata-Janata Dal (United) merger. Jaya Jaitly, Singh and five other MPs then blocked the move as they suspected Kumar of being hand-in-glove with JD(U) president Sharad Yadav to marginalise Fernandes. The latest developments in the Samata Party have again activated the pro-merger forces. The sources said renewed efforts will be made to consolidate the mass base of the two parties, especially in Bihar, by a reunion of a part of the Dal family. There were reports that Fernandes had met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who lives a stone's throw away, fuelling speculation that the NDA convener was trying to build new equations. Mulayam has denied any such meeting.