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Updated: Feb 14, 2019 13:04 IST

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s surprise comment in Lok Sabha that he wished to see Narendra Modi back as prime minister has elicited reactions from leaders cutting across party lines.

“I wish that all members come back to the House,” Yadav said during the last sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha. And pointing to Modi, Yadav said, “I wish pradhan mantriji becomes pradhan mantri again.” The remarks drew applause from the treasury benches.

Reacting to the remark, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, “I disagree with him.” But he added Yadav has had a role in politics, “and I respect that role”.

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah, in obvious reaction to the comment, just tweeted “Poor Akhilesh”.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav should accept the truth which his father spoke in Parliament.

“This is the truth, and truth always wins. What Mulayamji said in the Parliament is the truth, I am sure like Mulayamji, his son should also accept this truth,” Adityanath said.

Yadav’s comment comes at a time when his son Akhilesh Yadav has joined hands with arch-rival Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party to challenge the BJP in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Mulayam Singh Yadav is a senior grassroots leader and knows which way the wind is blowing.”

Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi said, “Mulayam is old new, his memory is failing him. His comments don’t mean anything.”

The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh avoided comment.

“I have not seen what statement he has made. I have no clue,” SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI in Lucknow.

However, senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari claimed that Yadav’s statement will benefit the Congress.

“I do not know in which circumstances he gave the statement. But if any party stands to gain politically from the statement, it is certainly going to be the Congress,” Tiwari told PTI.

Hitting out at Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh said that the former’s remarks praising the Prime Minister are an effort to create confusion and indicated that it could be a tactic to cover up allegations of corruption against the SP and BSP.

Meanwhile, posters thanking Yadav popped up in Lucknow on Wednesday immediately after the SP leader’s comments in Lok Sabha.

The slogans on the poster read, “Thank you Mulayam Singh Yadav, today you reiterated the wish of 125 crore Indians in the Lok Sabha.”