New Delhi
As curtains drew on the 16th Lok Sabha today, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav created a flutter in the House when he said he wished to see Narendra Modi as the PM again, a sentiment acknowledged by the BJP leader with folded hands.

Mulayam’s blessings for the PM were greeted with much applause by the Treasury benches, while those in the Opposition, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi seated next to the SP leader, were left astonished.

Outside the House, Mulayam ducked questions on his praise for Modi, the blessings having come at a time when his son and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has formed an alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party to challenge the BJP in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh that accounts for 80 of the 545 Lok Sabha seats.

Modi greeted Mulayam with folded hands. “There is much to do. Mulayam Singhji has given his blessings. I am very grateful to him,” the PM said, pitching for a majority government and recounting its merits in the national and international perspective.

In his speech, Modi took potshots at Gandhi recalling his claim of an “earthquake” . He also recounted Gandhi’s “hug” and “winking” epsodes, saying these experiences were new to him as he was a first-time MP.

He said the country’s image had enhanced globally due to the electoral mandate enjoyed by the current dispensation. “India suffered globally for long due to fractured mandates, but it was taken seriously now because of the majority government,” he said.