When asked if he would like to forge an electoral alliance with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal during the 2014 parliamentary polls, Mulayam ruled it out, saying the party would like to assess its own strength. Besides, such issues have not yet been taken up in the party national executive, he said.

He said he had a long association with Mamata. "I respect her. I respect her grit and her dogged struggles," he said. He also thanked Mamata for sparing time for his son, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Wednesday evening. "Both had an hour-long discussion on a range of issues and I must thank Mamataji for that. It was also generally a chief ministerial protocol that they meet with each other when one is visiting another state."