From trading barbs to walking hand-in-hand at public events, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav shared a unique relationship.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Yadav, sitting in the Opposition benches, left everyone present in Lok Sabha amused when he expressed the hope that Modi returns as the prime minister again.
The moment was recalled by Prime Minister Modi on Monday as he paid tributes to Yadav at an event in Bharuch (Gujarat) and said that they had a "special relationship".
"Even in the midst of our political differences, during the concluding session of the last Lok Sabha, the candid words of a senior leader like Mulayam Singh ji on the floor of the House were like a blessing," Modi said.
In the electoral arena, they attacked each other with barbs and taunts.
In January 2014, ahead of the parliamentary elections, the then BJP prime ministerial candidate Modi had hit out at Yadav for his remarks that he would not let Uttar Prade