Sharad, Kushwaha, Manjhi and Sahni meet behind closed doors,

A closed-door meeting of some senior leaders of the opposition grand alliance in Bihar on Friday got the goat of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is the largest constituent of the five-party formation.

At a city hotel, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha and Vikassheel Insaan Party founder Mukesh Sahni spent close to an hour with Sharad Yadav, a veteran socialist leader whose name they had proposed a day ago as the "face" of the grand alliance for the upcoming assembly polls.

Also present at the meeting was Hindustani Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister, who has not revealed his cards on the issue though he is known to share, with Kushwaha and Sahni, the skepticism over young RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's ability to lead the coalition.

The leaders refused to say what had transpired during the meeting, following which Yadav left for Ranchi where he is expected to spend the night and meet Lalu Prasad, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases, on Saturday.

RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari, meanwhile, reacted with indignation, saying, "Any group of people can hold a meeting. But do not call it a meeting of the grand alliance. Such a meeting can never be convened unless the RJD and Tejashwi Yadav are involved."