(This story originally appeared in on Apr 22, 2014)

PATNA: Bitter differences and acrimonious infighting in the ruling JD (U) are threatening to take a toll on the party's poll prospects.In the ongoing parliamentary election, many national and regional parties underwent this situation, which is seen as normal on the eve of polls, but JD (U) seems to be the worst-affected. Perhaps never in the electoral history of Bihar , and possibly in India, any party's candidate retired after the nomination and withdrawal processes were over. Akhtarul Iman, the JD (U) candidate from Muslim-dominated Kishanganj, withdrew from the contest last week, leaving the party red-faced.Iman's withdrawal on the plea of saving split in the Muslim votes seems to have sent a strong message to Muslim voters not only in Kishanganj but almost all constituencies going to polls in the third and fourth phases. What has worried the JD (U) leadership is 'rumours' about some other party nominees planning to retire. Chief minister Nitish Kumar said at an election rally he was surprised why a 'winning' candidate (Iman) withdrew from contest.Apart from the Iman episode, the JD(U) is also facing the wrath of many unhappy MLAs, many of them working openly against official candidates. The party on Saturday suspended three rebel women MLAs - Renu Kumari Kushwaha, Poonam Devi Yadav and Sujata Devi - for anti-party activities. They are openly campaigning for their relatives who are contesting on rival parties' symbols. Another MLA, Annu Shukla, is also in the firing line for her decision to contest from Vaishali seat as an Independent."JD (U) is not the only party facing this situation. BJP and RJD are also plagued by this problem," said JD (U) national general secretary and rural works minister Bhim Singh and added that at least his party has the guts to take action against the rebels. "If you are talking about morality and integrity, these words have lost meaning in the present situation," he added bitterly.For the JD (U), two dangers are emerging. If a Modi-led government is formed, it is apprehended the Union government will not allow Nitish to survive for long. Attempts will be made to break his party and ensure the fall of his government. Also, Lalu Prasad may emerge as a big challenger to Nitish post-Lok Sabha polls, amid speculations that the RJD would get revived as a strong force in Bihar.This perception is getting stronger in the light of some surveys that RJD has been able to revive and strengthen MY (Muslim-Yadav) combination, which had been shaken in the 2009 general and 2010 assembly elections, and has almost made the polls a bipolar contest in north Bihar constituencies. Political observers are of the view that in this election, the society is deeply divided on caste lines and people are overlooking other issues like development and the work done by the state government.However, CM Nitish Kumar does not agree with this view. In one of his recent Facebook posts, he said, "Janata ne vote kam bharose diya, Ram bharose nahi (people have voted for the works (done by me) and not in the name of religion)." He said he has worked hard for eight years and served the interests of Bihar. "In this election, they will give me their strong support to enable me to work with renewed energy," he added.