Senior leaders of the Janata Dal-United party met here late last evening at the behest of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss options available to them should they decide to end their alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar.
According to television reports, any decision in this regard is likely to be taken after June 15, when Kumar returns from his "Seva Yatra".
Janata Dal-United leaders have reportedly been asked to contact independent MLAs and garner their support in the party's favour. Three independent MLAs have already vouched to back the JD(U).
"A decision will be announced in a few days. Be patient, wait for sometime. The decision will be made," is all that Kumar said while getting into his car after the meeting.
The Bihar chief minister has held talks with party president Sharad Yadav and other senior state JD(U) leaders, weighing the pros and cons of remaining in alliance with the BJP.
He also held talks with senior ministers in his cabinet like Bijendra Yadav, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Narendra Singh, Brishen Patel, Shayam Rajak and Rajya Sabha member and a close confidante R C P Singh, television reports said.
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"The ministers have met Nitish Kumar. The future of the alliance was discussed and it is a call that will be taken by the party soon. The alliance with the BJP stands for now," JD(U) leader Vijay Chaudhary was quoted, as saying.
Bihar Food Minister Shyam Rajak said: "The recent events have raised serious questions about the alliance within the JD(U). The events in Goa have strained the alliance and now we have to ask ourselves some tough questions."
These consultations within the JD(U) come just days after the anointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP's campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The L.K. Advani resignation drama over the past two days has added to the J D(U) crisis of confidence in relation to ties with the BJP.
JD(U)'s strength in the Bihar Assembly is 118 MLAs. If the BJP-JD(U) ties snap, Nitish would need the support of four MLAs to get a majority of 122.