Amar wished all the best to Jaya, but said there were many rebel MLAs in SP who needed to be “managed”.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav nominated Jaya Bachchan on Wednesday for a second six-year term in Rajya Sabha (RS), dealing a virtual uppercut to one-time close friend and lieutenant Amar Singh, who has been the Bachchans’ close family friend.
Yadav has apparently rewarded Jaya for refusing to quit the party after Amar was expelled in February. At that time she had said she would like to complete her Rajya Sabha term, which ends on July 4.
Amar wished all the best to Jaya, but said there were many rebel MLAs in SP who needed to be “managed”. He also indicated this could be a ploy by SP to get her defeated. “Jayaji would not be able to do all this as she is a celebrity… she is not a hardcore political person,” Amar told reporters in New Delhi.
SP state president and Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav, while making the announcement before the media, said: “Jayaji has been a loyalist and has served the party well… she has always been at the forefront while campaigning during elections… that is why the party decided to renominate her.”
Jaya, the 62-year-old actor-turned-politician, was close to Amar, but this changed when she did not heed his call to quit SP after he was expelled. She also did not attend Amar’s ‘kshatriya rally’ in March, forcing him to admit he was “missing” her.
Due to its depleted strength in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, SP could nominate only two leaders to Rajya Sabha, from where seven of its MPs are retiring in July, including Jaya.
The party also nominated former Union minister Rashid Masood for the election next month. SP has 10 Rajya Sabha MPs after the recent death of its sitting member Virendra Bhatia.
(With PTI inputs)
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