NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday latched onto Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav's jibe at the Congress to claim that it shows the "increasing isolation" of the main opposition party and "non-acceptance" of its chief Rahul Gandhi's leadership.


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A miffed Yadav had "thanked" the Congress for not making his party's lone MLA in Madhya Pradesh a minister, saying it has made the road ahead clear for his party. He also said he will soon meet Telangana Chief Minister K C Rao and praised his efforts for formation of a federal front comprising regional parties.


Targeting Gandhi over Yadav's comments, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, "As elections draw closer, the increasing isolation of the Congress and non-acceptance of Rahul Gandhi's leadership becoming more pronounced." 


Yadav had suffered politically for allowing Rahul Gandhi ride piggyback on his cycle (SP's election symbol) during the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2017 and does not want to repeat the blunder again, he claimed.


While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is united, multiple fronts are emerging against it which, Rao said, reflect personal interests of opposition leaders than any similarity in ideology or commonality in issues.


Referring to talks of grand alliance and federal front against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said people have rejected such coalitions in the past because they are a "recipe for disaster" with regard to stability and harm development. 


Amid voices of discontent from BJP's allies against the saffron party, Rao said their statements were "blown out of proportion". 


"It (differences) has been ironed out through mutual discussion," he claimed.


Even as the UPA is split on the issue of leadership, the NDA is largely intact, he said.