: The Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, described as an ‘outsider’ by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, is likely to be assigned an important role during the election campaign of the ruling party in Assembly elections. Though intensely disliked by the Chief Minister and his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav, the Samajwadi Party supremo had elevated his status by nominating him as the member of the Central Parliamentary Board on December 8. Earlier, the SP supremo had appointed Amar Singh as the general secretary of the party in September. Elevation in the status of Amar Singh by the party supremo is being interpreted in the party as the attempt by Mulayam Singh Yadav to quell the challenge to his leadership and establish his absolute control over the party apparatus. “Netaji by nominating Amar Singh to Central Parliamentary board has set the cat among the pigeons and he has given clear signals to the feuding members of the family to fall in line,” said a senior SP leader adding that “Netaji has already punished Ram Gopal Yadav and he has fallen in line but the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to adamant on chartering independent course in politics’’. SP leader said, “Netaji was rattled by the open challenge to his authority by the young leaders owing allegiance to the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. One youth leader even went to the extent of asking the Netaji to step down and hand over the reins of the party to his son Akhilesh Yadav’’. State President of the Samajwadi party Shivpal Yadav said, “There is nothing unusual if Amar Singh campaigns for the party, he is an important leader of the party and party needs the services of all its leaders for campaigning during the elections’’. Shivpal Singh has close ties with Amar Singh and had lobbied hard for his return to the party. Amar Singh was expelled from the party in January 2010 and he returned to the party fold in June this year and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Both Ram Gopal Yadav and CM Akhilesh Yadav had been critical of Singh all along the infighting within SP’s first family. Amar Singh returned to SP in June this year after six years of political wilderness. He was elevated to the post of party general secretary in September and had openly flaunted his loyalty for Mulayam by calling himself “Mulayamwadi”.