New Delhi: In the midst of his clash with his party chief Sharad Pawar over aligning with Congress, senior NCP (National Congress Party) leader P A Sangma tonight (Jan 18, 2004) met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and discussed the possibilities of a tie-up between his newly-floated Northeast People's Forum and ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

"I met Prime Minister with two agenda--one was about insurgency in the Northeast and the other was the possibilities of a tie-up between the forum and NDA in case the two decide to go together in the Lok Sabha polls, " Sangma said after meeting Vajpayee.

Asked when he would be meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue of a possible tie-up between the two parties, he said, "Soniaji is meeting with everybody. Whenever she calls me I myself would go and meet her."

He said the 16-member strong Congress was supporting his Government from outside based on issues, and he too was for "giving and taking" issue-based support.

Asked about Gandhi's visit to Mayawati's residence on her birthday, Yadav said, "Who is wishing who on the birthday is immaterial. But Congress should not align with casteist and opportunist party like BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party), otherwise it has to explain it to people who is secular."