Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, amid speculation about possible political realignment following the DMK pulling out from the ruling UPA.
The meeting of the two leaders also comes against the backdrop SP demanding resignation of Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma for his remarks against Yadav that he takes commission to support UPA government.
SP has said it is not satisfied with Verma's "regret" and would prefer an apology from the minister, who was once close to Yadav.
However, both Yadav and Pawar, whose NCP is a UPA constituent, played down the meeting, saying they had met to discuss modalities of a programme they have to attend together on March 24.
"We have to attend a programme on the death anniversary of Nagar ji (a freedom fighter). We discussed the programme and the details," Yadav said after meeting the NCP chief.
Pawar too said their discussion was confined to chalking out details of the programme.
While NCP is a key constituent of the UPA, SP extends outside support to the government.
A day after withdrawing support to the government, five DMK ministers today tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the Union Council of Ministers.
