Fifty-three-year-old Amar Singh had resigned as Samajwadi Party general secretary, spokesman and member of parliamentary board on health grounds on January 6.
The Samajwadi Party is reeling under the impact of Amar Singh’s resignation from all party posts. Sunday saw a defensive party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav singing “all is well”. But a virtual rebellion began brewing in his party with a spate of resignations and offers to resign from party functionaries.
There were reports of Amar getting offers from other parties, including Congress. “I am not accepting Amar Singh’s resignation… I will speak to him and things will be fine,” Mulayam declared on Sunday morning in Kolkata where he had gone to see an ailing Jyoti Basu. But as the day progressed, things were far from fine in the SP.
First, news came in about SP general secretary and cine star Sanjay Dutt resigning from the party general secretary’s post in solidarity with “elder brother” Amar Singh.
Soon, Bhojpuri actor-singer turned politician Manoj Tiwari, who was the party candidate from Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha election, said he would also quit protesting the “dishonour” heaped on Amar. By evening, another general secretary Obaidullah Azmi had put in his papers citing the same reason.
Not only senior leaders, the split is becoming evident down the party rank and file with Amar’s supporters and detractors ranged in distinct groups.
SP MLA from Moradabad, Sandeep Agarwal, virtually cocked a snook at the party leadership when he announced before reporters that at least seven MPs and 25 MLAs were willing to resign in support of Amar Singh. On the other hand, SP MLA from Sambhal Iqbal Mehmood demanded Amar Singh’s ouster from the party.
Amar Singh himself told a news channel from Dubai that he would not retract. “I have not resigned from the party but I will be attending any of its meetings,” he said. “I have all the respect for Mulayam Singhji regardless of whether I remain in the party or not and whether the SP remains a force to reckon with in politics or not,” he added. He said his differences were only with Ram Gopal Yadav, Mulayam’s cousin and MP.
There were reports that Sharad Pawar’s NCP has offered him a Rajya Sabha seat. In Lucknow, Congress MP and one-time Mulayam lieutenant Beni Prasad Verma told reporters: “The Congress party’s doors are open for Amar Singh.”
But Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters that Amar Singh's “management skills” had only harmed the party. “It is because of his management skills that we have suffered heavy electoral losses,” he remarked. Clearly, the SP seems to have lost its bearing under the impact of its stormy petrel.
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