Patna, Nov 18 (IANS) The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) won't merge ahead of assembly elections next year, former chief minister Nitish Kumar said Tuesday.

"There is nothing like that happening," he told the media at Samastipur.

Nitish Kumar said the RJD and JD-U would, however, contest the assembly polls as an alliance.

"There is no possibility of a merger. We will only contest the election together," he said.

The JD-U leader said all secular forces should unite to defeat "the communal BJP".

Bihra Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had said earlier that a merger of the two parties would benefit both the RJD and JD-U.