Chandigarh, Sep 23 (IANS): Following speculation over his meeting with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in New Delhi Saturday, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal Sunday said that there was no talk about a third front formation then.

Badal, who is also the deputy chief minister of Punjab, clarified that nothing political should be read into his meeting with Mulayam Singh. He said his family had "old relations" with the Samajwadi Party chief and "we keep on meeting on various social occasions, exchanging our notes".

He reiterated that there was no question of a third front in the present political scenario as only the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would form the next government at the centre after the Lok Sabha elections, whenever they are held.

The Akali Dal has close ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the NDA, for the past many years. The Akali Dal and the BJP run an alliance government in Punjab.

Badal said that people have already made their mind to "kick out the most corrupt UPA government and bring back NDA to power".

He was replying to media queries at a function in Jalandhar district, 140 km from here. Badal was present there with Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders, including Sitaram Yechuri, to pay tributes to communist leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

Badal said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre was on a ventilator and early elections were inevitable. He said the UPA was surviving on borrowed time with "oxygen cylinders" of various political parties.

Opposing the move by the centre to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail sector, Badal alleged that the UPA government had taken the decision to help a few multi-national corporations.