Chaturvedi's past comment that Amar Singh needed to get "mental treatment" had sparked a public spat between the two leaders. A similar comment by him on Wednesday revived the bitterness.

Two days after the SP leaders met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the deadlock over alliance talks between the two parties, the Congress on Thursday sent out clear signals that statements made by Chaturvedi did not have official sanction. Speaking to mediapersons, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: "Satyavrat Chaturvedi is a respected leader of the party. But the views expressed by him are his own. The party does not subscribe to them."

Chaturvedi has not addressed a single Congress Press conference for over a year and his interaction with media is limited to providing sound bytes to TV channels. He does not even attend the meetings of spokespersons taken by media department chairman M Veerappa Moily.

However, PTI later said Chaturvedi had been dropped as Congress spokesperson.