Jaya Prada slams Amar detractors

Jaya Prada, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Rampur and a close confidant of Amar Singh, came out strongly in support of the former SP general secretary on Sunday. Lashing out at his detractors, the actor-politician said, “If anything happens to him, the party and its leaders who are criticising him should be held responsible.”

Jaya Prada said she would “stand by Amar Singh in his hour of crisis” as it was he who brought her into the SP fold and stood by her despite opposition from several party leaders.

“During my Lok Sabha election campaign in Rampur I was moved to tears when at the behest of some party leaders, drastic things were circulated to dilute my image. No party leader other than Amar Singh stood by me. I owe it to him and will stand by him,” she said.

In an emotional outburst, Jaya Prada, who faced a character assassination attempt during her Lok Sabha campaign, said,

“Politics is not for good people, it’s not for a good woman. Even if I tie a rakhi to Amar Singh, people will talk ill about our bond.When people like Azam Khan, whom I called Azam bhai, can spread such malicious stuff about me, what can I expect from people who I don’t even know (sic)?”

Hitting out at SP chief Mulayam Singh’s cousin Ram Gopal, son Akhilesh, nephew Dharmendra and spokesman Mohan Singh, who criticised Amar for making the party look like a glamour brigade, she said, “They never hesitate to ask us to campaign. Then they call us nachnewalas and cinemawalas... Dharmendra and Akhilesh should explain why they call filmstars to their ‘family function’ — the Saifai Mahotsav?”