With RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav announcing Varanasi to be the first stop in his nationwide tour after making a strong comeback in Bihar Assembly polls, SP leader Shivpal Yadav on Thursday said that they would welcome the the RJD chief in Varanasi as a 'samdhi' (relative).

Varanasi: With RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav announcing Varanasi to be the first stop in his nationwide tour after making a strong comeback in Bihar Assembly polls, SP leader Shivpal Yadav on Thursday said that they would welcome the the RJD chief in Varanasi as a 'samdhi' (relative).

"Laluji is already our 'Samdhi'. When he comes here, we will welcome him," he told reporters.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's grandnephew had married RJD chief Lalu Yadav's daughter earlier this year, an event which saw the most powerful political families of UP and Bihar coming together.

The buoyant RJD chief, whose party won 80 seats in the Bihar Assembly polls, had recently announced that he will set on a nation-wide tour, the first stop being Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, where he would search with the help of his 'lantern' (RJD symbol) the development promised by Modi during Lok Sabha polls.

Welcoming the announcement, SP leader and Uttar Pradesh PWD minister Shivpal Yadav said, "The people of Bihar has given him (Lalu) the mandate. The voters have exposed the BJP government at the Centre and Modiji, of his fake promises on the development plank."

On being asked how would he distinguish the work done by his state government as well as the Centre in the constituency, the minister said, "Our (SP government) works are clearly visible, we have carried a lot of development work from the past three and half years of our rule, but where is the work of the Central government here? The Centre has not even transferred the share of UP government."

"We have spent more then Rs 1,000 crores on the infrastructure in the city. But the Centre's much-publicised Ganga rejuvenation and smart-city projects have not even took off," he alleged.

On the question of a possible tie-up between RJD and the ruling Samajwadi Party in the 2017 UP assembly elections, Shivpal Yadav said that the "matter rests with the top leadership".

On their biggest rivals in the state, Yadav said that their fight was with the BJP, and not Mayawati-led BSP.

PTI