New Delhi, Dec. 5: Akhilesh Yadav may have been joking but his remark about a "secular" coalition with Mulayam Singh Yadav as Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi his deputy has triggered speculation about a "third front".

At a media summit here on Friday, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister had been asked about the chances of a Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance for the 2019 general election.

"I too want that Netaji's (Mulayam's) dreams are fulfilled and that I work for him," the son said about the father.

"He becomes the PM and he (pointing at Rahul in the audience) the deputy PM. I am in agreement with this and will finalise an alliance right now if this is acceptable."

Akhilesh went on to call the Congress vice-president a "good friend" of his.

Uttar Pradesh Congress sources dismissed the "proposal" out of hand.

"Everything depends on what happens in the state elections (due in early 2017)," veteran Satyadev Tripathi said.

"If the Samajwadis are voted out - and most probably they will be over the law-and-order problems - where is the question of the Congress or anyone else reaching out to them?"

A source close to Akhilesh played his comment down, saying it was meant to dispel the perception that Mulayam had got "close" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

"Politicians are talking of a jugal bandi (partnership) between us and the BJP. We have to refurbish our secular credentials before the Assembly polls," the source said.

He said Akhilesh's remark had been a "tactical" one.

"It was tactical of the chief minister to publicly state that we are not averse to the Congress and that there is no question of keeping equidistance from the Congress and the BJP," he said.

"Our first choice for partnership would always be the Congress because there's no question of ever going with the BJP."

A senior Samajwadi politician said that any talk of a third front would involve complex questions.

"There are many dimensions to the third front issue, which gained traction after the Bihar elections. Many leaders are talking of Nitish Kumar being projected as the next Prime Minister. Netaji will never accept this proposition," he said.

"Nitish is still Lalu Prasad's junior partner in terms of seats, so how can he become the Prime Minister? The Congress too must realise that between Nitish and Netaji, it will have to back Netaji if it comes to that."

Although Samajwadi sources played down the possibility of an alliance with the Congress in the Assembly or Lok Sabha polls, they said any "secular" coalition in 2019 would have to involve both parties.

Sunil Singh Yadav, who heads the Samajwadi youth wing and is regarded as Akhilesh's "eyes and ears", described how a prospective Congress-Samajwadi partnership would work.

"If there is a secular coalition, it will have to be headed by a third front leader. But even the secular regional parties cannot think of a government without the Congress's help, so it's a matter of mutual dependence," he said.

But like Tripathi, Samajwadi sources too agreed that a defeat in the state polls would marginalise them. "Nobody may look at our leaders," one of them said.