From correspondents in Delhi, India, 02:00 AM IST

If Mayawati could not stop herself from beaming whenever she was accompanied by a political leader of another party, her archrival Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh had few things to say and looked totally off-colour.

For a change, Amar Singh had few smart lines to deliver and it was left to his party leader - or 'netaji' as party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is called by his supporters - to feed the media 'quotable quotes'.

'Lal Jhanda aur Lal Krishna Advani ek ho gaye hain (The Red Flag and BJP leader L.K. Advani have united)' declared Yadav, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, referring to the communists and the BJP's prime ministerial hopeful.

One person, who looked totally cool, was Akhilesh Singh Yadav, MP from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh and son of Yadav.

After the media briefing, he freely mingled with journalists and exchanged gossip on the ongoing political drama.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)