Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav has praised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its "nationalism."

"The BJP is doing good work in many areas. Obviously, I will appreciate it. I'll certainly criticise it if it does something wrong. But why shouldn't I praise it if it is working well on the issue of nationalism," he said on Monday at a function organised on the the 48th death anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia.

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Mulayam also opted to analyse the ongoing Bihar Assembly elections and said, "The BJP will do well in the Bihar elections. It is in a winning situation. But it has gradually started lagging after some people raised their voice against reservation policy", he said.

Mulayam veiled reference was at Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat's recent statement that reservation policy should be reviewed.

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The SP chief's change of heart is not sudden. After bitter allegations and counter allegations against each other during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, the BJP and the SP have come close to praise each other more often than expected. During a rally in Saharanpur on September 11, Modi had dubbed Mulayam as a savior of democracy.

"Mulayam is my adversary in democracy. But he kept working many nights to ensure that the Parliament works. He preferred to stand with values of democracy and the Parliament. But the Congress has become dangerous for the country," Modi had said. Observers feel Mulayam's statement, when Bihar elections are in progress, is an indication that he is contesting only to show his presence. Otherwise, he stands by the BJP.