PATNA, Oct. 6 -- The intra-party friction in the ruling Janata Dal (United) with two of its leaders being locked in open rivalry in the ongoing legislative council elections on Monday took another turn when Union minister and mediator Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said that there have been "some old actions" behind the current rift. The JD(U) tussle is between its MLA from Mokama, Anant Singh, who is also state's renowned muscle man, and party's fourth-term MLC aspirant Neeraj Kumar. Accusing Kumar of sabotaging his earlier poll campaigns and even implcating him in certain criminal cases, Singh is openly supporting Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Kumar from Patna Graduate seat that also includes Mokama constituency. Lalan Singh met both Singh and Kumar and said that Singh has certain grievances. "There is always a reaction to any action," he said, hinting that Singh must have suffered in the past and that's why he is turning vindictive. Lalan Singh's remarks are significant as former chief minister Nitish Kumar had called on him in the morning a few hours before Neeraj Kumar filed his nomination as the party nominee with a large number of supporters to seek his fourth consecutive term. JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha had earlier this month entrusted Lalan Singh with the responsibility of resolving the issue between two party leaders that has created an unsavoury situation for the party. Lalan Singh said that he had talks with Anant Singh, who was upset with the way there were attempts to campaign against him during the Assembly election and also to implicate him in false cases, while the party did not take any action. "It was a lapse on the part of the JD(U) then, as it failed to take timely action. This is the reason the JD(U) MLA does not want to support Neeraj Kumar. Anant Singh also has several grievances and raised old issues," the Union minister said. Lalan Singh, however, said that he asked Anant Singh not to make public statements against the party, to which the latter agreed. A day earlier, at a public function in Munger, Lalan Singh had said that there could be a resolution only if both Anant Singh and Neeraj Kumar would like so, as he would not like to do any arbitration. The last date for filing nomination in the biennial polls is October 6....