New Delhi, Aug. 27: The Samajwadi Party has softened its stand on the UPA government with senior leaders saying the party was not thinking of a no-confidence motion in Parliament on the nuclear deal.

According to the leaders, the party, instead of intensifying hostility with the government, would prefer to tread cautiously in view of the “imminent” souring of ties between the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayavati.

The Samajwadi Party’s assessment is that Mayavati’s political ambitions — within and outside Uttar Pradesh — would directly hit the Congress’s prospects, thus putting the two at loggerheads sooner than later.

“The moment that happens, an objective condition will be created for the SP and the Congress to come closer,” a senior Samajwadi leader said, preferring anonymity.

The ice seems to be melting already. While Congress leader Salman Khursheed has stopped attacking Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh, the leader added, has returned the favour by putting a halt to his tirade against Sonia Gandhi.

Sources said middle-rank leaders from the two parties have started talking of “new political realities” instead of clinging on to bitter memories of the past.

The Samajwadi leader said though his party considers the nuclear deal “a sell-out to American imperialism” and “anti-Muslim” and would oppose it both inside and outside Parliament, it does not want to be seen at the forefront of efforts to topple the Congress-led government.

The sources said the two parties were increasingly realising that the “growing threat of Mayavati” was too serious to be ignored and their running feud would only strengthen the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.