Lucknow, Nov 29 (IANS): Though rivals in politics for over two decades, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad will soon establish a new bond. The Samajwadi Party chief's grand nephew will marry the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo's youngest daughter early next year.

Tej Pratap Singh, who will be tying the knot with Raj Laxmi, will soon have an engagement ceremony, and get married early next year, family sources told IANS.

Tej Pratap is a first time Lok Sabha member from Mainpuri, a seat held earlier by Mulayam Singh.

An MSc in Management from Leeds University, the 27-year-old Tej Pratap is the son of Mulayam Singh's nephew Ranveer Singh Yadav.

The grand Saifai Mahotsava is held every year in the memory of Tej Pratap's father in Mulayam Singh's ancestral village.

The marriage between the children of the two powerful political families of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is being keenly followed in political circles.

Though initially together in the days of the unified Janata Dal, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh parted ways after the RJD chief scuttled the Samajwadi Party chief's chances of becoming prime minister in 1997.

Mulayam Singh never forgot this and has been a bitter critic of Lalu Prasad ever since.

However, the wedding bells now seem to have set in a different political scenario.

Both leaders have been speaking of "coming together of secular forces", especially in the wake of a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party under PrNarendra Modi.

While Lalu Prasad has forged an alliance with arch rival Nitish Kumar in his home turf, he has suggested that Mulayam Singh also bury the hatchet with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati for "larger opposition unity".