Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav on Thursday softened his stand against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav saying he would be acceptable so long he sided with the secular alliance.

On Wednesday an angry Laloo had said, "We will not accept his dictates or conditions. So long as he supports the secular alliance, it is all right. But, we will not tolerate any nuisance."

The former Bihar chief minister said that if Mulayam 'behaved well, there is no problem'.

He, however, maintained that Mulayam was hand-in-glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself been saying that Mulayam was close to him.

Laloo's remarks come a day after he said that in case of a hung Parliament a non-BJP, non-NDA government would be installed 'minus Mulayam Singh Yadav'.

He had categorically stated that Mulayam was not anti-BJP and therefore not a part of the secular alliance and ruled out taking his support for a majority. "He is not anti-BJP," he said.

To a question as to who will lead the secular alliance, he said it would be Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. "Only if she refuses, we will sit together and find out another person," he said.