Now the question is whether other SP leaders like MPs Jaya Prada, Jaya Bachchan and Manoj Tiwari from the Amar camp will follow suit.
Soon after a clarification from the Samajwadi Party that it does not need to persuade Amar Singh to take back his resignation, his close supporter and party general secretary Sanjay Dutt also resigned from his post on Saturday. Now the question is whether other SP leaders like MPs Jaya Prada, Jaya Bachchan and Manoj Tiwari from the Amar camp will follow suit.
At a brief press conference held at his Bandra residence, Sanjay Dutt said he was resigning from the party post, but would remain a party member. He said that he was hurt by the treatment meted out to his mentor and “elder brother” Amar Singh.
He said he would also not mind joining any other party if Amar Singh does so.
Dutt said that he was hurt by the statement of SP leader Ramgopal Yadav that the party gained nothing from party leaders from Bollywood. “I have worked hard for the party in the Lok Sabha election. We, the people from Bollywood, are sentimental at heart and do not expect such comments,” he said.
Dutt said that he had spoken to Amar Singh before announcing his decision. “I didn’t speak to party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, but he still remains to my leader and I have great admiration for him. I continue to be a party worker and will campaign for Farhan Azmi (son of state unit chief Abu Azmi) in the Bhiwandi by-poll slated for January 20.”
The exit of Sanjay Dutt confirms that Mulayam Singh Yadav has distanced himself from Amar Singh and his brigade. That includes Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, as well as Anil Ambani. Jaya Bachchan’s term as Rajya Sabha member will end this year and sources close to Mulayam say, “It is out of the question that Jaya will get a ticket again.”
As for Anil Ambani, the managing director of Anil Dhirubha Ambani Group, there’s a huge power project in UP to think of. Big B’s brand ambassadorship of Gujarat, in a shift away from UP, is also to be seen in the context of the developments in SP.
Sanjay Dutt joined the party in January 2009 with the intention of contesting the Lok Sabha elections held in April-May last year. However, after the Supreme Court denied him permission to contest the poll, he was elevated to the post of national general secretary, equivalent to the post held by Amar Singh.
“When the Supreme Court did not give me chance to contest Lok Sabha elections, Amar Singh made me the general secretary of the party. He had said both of us will work for the party from the same position,” Dutt said at the press conference.
Amar Singh had on Wednesday announced his resignation as general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and from his other posts, citing health reasons.
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