(This story originally appeared in on May 12, 2015)

NEW DELHI: RJD and JD(U) may not contest this year's Bihar elections as one entity and on one symbol in what is being seen as a setback for their efforts to check BJP in the state.Sources said the merger of RJD and JD(U) as part of a larger project to collapse all Janata splinters into a Parivar will remain incomplete because of "technical issues". A day after SP leader Ramgopal Yadav said that reunion of Janata outfits could not happen before the Bihar contest, RJD MP Prem Gupta also said the process of knocking the six parties into one has to be put on hold because of "technical issues"."There is unanimity that we need to come together to defend secularism. But there are technical issues like what happens to individual symbols of parties after they have merged into one. We have to factor those in," Gupta, a close associate of RJD boss Lalu Prasad , said.Gupta argued that JD(U) and RJD would have a seat-sharing pact to confront the BJP with a strong "secular" bloc. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also sought to downplay fears about "technical issues", saying the merger was already a reality. "Mulayam Singh Yadav has already been named the new party president and chairman of its parliamentary board and a seven-member committee has been formed to decide the policy, flag and symbol issues," he said in Patna.However, sources conceded that the developments were tantamount to a setback for the effort to thwart BJP which is viewing the Bihar elections to regain the political momentum it lost because of the Delhi debacle in February. Whiie SP and RJD stressed that there will still be seat-sharing between JD(U) and RJD, it is realized that an electoral alliance may lack the advantages that a merger was supposed to yield.The proponents of merger have argued that it would ensure that the understanding between leaders, who were at loggerheads for decades, translates into reconciliation also among their constituents who view each other as rivals. The backers of merger in both JD(U) and RJD also argued that formation of a common party would be a stronger buffer against sabotage and desertions of the disgruntled.Significantly, JD(U) did not seem convinced that "technical issues" -- the term is also used to refer to the anxiety of parties on how to hold on to their respective assets -- like fear of loss of symbol could be such a big impediment and has sought time with the Election Commission to satisfy itself.While RJD never seemed to share the keenness of JD(U) for a swift merger, Nitish had put store by the "guardianship" of Mulayam, reckoning that the SP boss would bring around both Lalu as well as those within the SP ranks who were not enthusiastic about losing the SP brand.While Mulayam initially indeed played the driver, fresh indications suggest that he also wants to hold on to the Samajwadi Party banner and would want all others to merge into it rather than launch a new united Janata Party.A top SP functionary said the future risk could be obviated by the "five parties merging into SP" as against the proposal of all six outfits uniting into a new party. "That way, we will retain the name Samajwadi Party and its symbol of bicycle," he said.