File photo of Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav was expected to react with anger to Lalu Prasad Yadav's recent visit to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, where he blamed the BJP and the ruling Samajwadi Party for the riots that lacerated the region in September.
Unexpectedly though, Mr Singh, who heads the Samajwadi Party, mimicked Lalu Prasad today as he lashed out at the Bihar leader, calling him a "Congress stooge."
"He is now out of jail and is licking the Congress's feet," said Mulayam Singh, repeatedly mimicking Lalu Yadav, much to the amusement of his audience.
Lalu Prasad has earned the SP chief's ire by visiting refugee camps in Muzaffarnagar this week and suggesting that the state government has not done enough for the victims of the communal riots.
Mulayam Singh and his son and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav are on the back foot after universal criticism about the way the state government has handled the massive humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the violence three months ago.
Lalu Yadav's unannounced visit closely followed one made by Rahul Gandhi and he had fulsome praise for the Congress vice-president.
The RJD leader was recently released on bail after more a month-and-a-half in a Jharkhand jail; he was convicted in a fodder scam case in September.
No sooner was he released that Lalu Yadav hinted at a re-alignment with the Congress for the general elections due by May.
Mulayam Singh Yadav provides crucial external support to the Congress-led UPA at the centre, but has repeatedly said that this arrangement will not extend beyond this term.
Today he alleged that the Congress stood little chance of winning the next elections. "One leader in the Congress confided in me that in the Congress, 90 per cent people support the BJP."