Days after accusing the Congress party of “betrayal” in Madhya Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) boss and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that his party didn’t have any differences with the grand-old-party and their INDIA alliance is very strong.

“The alliance is very strong…There are no differences (with Congress). They have a different way of thinking, we have a different way of thinking…,” the Samajwadi Party boss said while speaking to reporters in Dehradun.

His statement comes days after he accused the Congress party of “betrayal” in Madhya Pradesh, where assembly elections are due next month. Yadav claimed that Congress told his they will accommodate six seats for the Samajwadi Party where it won or put up a strong fight in the 2018 elections.

However, Congress back-tracked on its promise as no Samajwadi Party candidate featured on its list, he claimed. This enraged the SP boss and he expressed his anger in public. Yadav said that if Congress doesn’t take along allies, it won’t be possible for INDIA bloc to defeat the BJP in 2024. His party also announced a separate list of SP candidates for the Madhya Pradesh polls.

Earlier, tension rose within the INDIA bloc after Congress’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai asked the SP to withdraw its candidates from Madhya Pradesh in favour of the grand old party saying they don’t have any base there.

Ajay Rai said, “If you (Akhilesh Yadav) are a part of the INDIA alliance, then you will have to see what the situation is in each state. In Madhya Pradesh, there is a fight between Congress and the BJP, so SP should be supportive (to Congress). They had only one MLA and there he also joined the BJP.”

Also Read: On Kamal Nath’s ‘Akhilesh Vakhilesh’ jibe, SP leader’s ‘Chhutbhaiya Neta’ retort

When Kamal Nath, who is helming the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh, was asked about Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks, the former Madhya Pradesh CM took a jibe and called the SP leader “Vakhilesh”.

In response, Akhilesh retorted with a “whose name have lotus” can only call him “Vakhilesh” and not with his real name. The English word for Kamal in Kamal Nath’s name is lotus and that is the election symbol of the BJP. Ramgopal Yadav, another Samajwadi Party leader, called Kamal Nath a “chhutbhaiya neta” when asked about the Congress leader’s “Vakhilesh” jibe.

Both, the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, are Opposition’s INDIA bloc partners. INDIA bloc has vowed to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together “as far as possible” with a goal of defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP.