Patna (NDTV): Sharad Yadav, the senior leader of Nitish Kumar's party Janata Dal United reported to be upset at the Bihar Chief Minister ending the Grand Alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress this week, has received an invitation to lead the battle against the BJP in Bihar. The offer was made over phone and then repeated in front of the television camera by RJD chief who called Sharad Yadav "our leader".

"I appeal to Sharad Yadav-ji who has been our leader... who we consider our leader to come forward and fight the BJP. Take the lead role in this," Lalu Yadav said on Saturday, insisting that the 70-year-old veteran politician - "a champion of social justice" - was "angry" at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to ally with the BJP.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister had cited Lalu's son and his Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav's refusal to step down despite facing a corruption case for his decision to pull down his government. Mr Kumar was sworn in again as chief minister within the next 14 hours, this time with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as his new allies.

Word is Sharad Yadav had advised the Chief Minister against exiting the Grand Alliance but the advice was disregarded.

Sharad Yadav hasn't spoken his mind in public on Nitish Kumar switching sides. But he has done little to contradict Lalu Yadav who had earlier told NDTV that Sharad Yadav thought his party had erred.

In occasional tweets over the past few days, the senior JD (U) leader appears to be critical of schemes that the Modi government has counted as achievements. On the day Nitish Kumar announced his resignation, Sharad Yadav tweeted about the failure of the farm crop insurance scheme.

The next day, the socialist leader referred to the government "heartlessly" selling state-run companies. On Saturday, he said though the government had been collecting numerous cesses "yet don't see any improvement in any area in the country".

His critics have suggested that his silence was a negotiating tactic and he was angling for a cabinet berth in the Modi government. Sharad Yadav has been a Union Minister in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Lalu Yadav dismissed this "propaganda", insisting the socialist leader - who he said played a role in Nitish Kumar getting a ministerial role early in his career - wasn't greedy for the ministerial berth.