Amar Singh is a flamboyant politician who methodically plotted his return to the Samajwadi Party, wherein he outsmarted his detractors and won over the hearts of party leaders, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav
The return of former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh to the Samajwadi Party fold was on the cards, but it was not known when and how it would happen. Ending all speculation, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday declared Amar Singh as the party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha election scheduled next month. Party spokesmen claim the decision was unanimous.
However, Amar Singh’s return has ruffled many feathers. Senior party leader Azam Khan left the parliamentary board meeting mid-way. However, when in the evening, Mulayam Singh’s younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav declared the names for the party’s Rajya Sabha candidates, the same Azam Khan said that Amar Singh’s return to the party was unfortunate, but that he would “respect” the chief’s decision”.
Earlier in the day, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav told the media that members of the parliamentary board had authorised Mulayam Singh Yadav to take the final call on the names of the candidates, thus suggesting that there was no unanimity on the names. leaders had, in fact, opposed some candidates, including Amar Singh.
It is no secret that Ram Gopal Yadav, cousin of Mulayam Singh Yadav was opposed to the entry of Amar Singh. Senior party leader and MP in the Rajya Sabha Naresh Agarwal went on record saying that Amar Singh’s entry into the party will be detrimental. Another party MP in the upper House, Jaya Bachchan launched a tirade against Amar Singh when he accused her husband and megastar Amitabh Bachchan of back-stabbing him.
What will be the scenario in Rajya Sabha when Ram Gopal Yadav, Naresh Agarwal, Jaya Bachchan and Kironmoy Nanda share the bench with Amar Singh. All eyes will be on the body language of these leaders.
These past years, however, have seen many instances when Amar Singh castigated Mulayam Singh Yadav. On February 2, 2010, Amar Singh was sacked from the party and he called Mulayam Singh Yadav a ‘joker’. On March 21 that year, he wrote in his blog, “It seems Mulayam Singh Yadav is not a true follower of lohia. He is selfish. It seems leadership quality (in the SP) is limited to only one family.” In May, he wrote “I had been a dustbin for the SP. I am guilty of projecting the SP as the ideological party.” Amar Singh did not stop here. On December 5, 2010, he said in Bhadohi, “If I open my mouth, many senior leaders of the SP will go to jail.” On January 15, 2011, he said in Agra, “I will prefer to eat potassium cynide than see Mulayam Singh’s face.” On April 14 in Nagpur, he said, “I will prefer to die than go back to the SP.”
Amar Singh made no bones about the fact that he knew many secrets about Mulayam Singh Yadav and the SP. On January 25, 2012, he said, “I am not a servant of the SP or Mulayam Singh Yadav. I know many secrets. I have not revealed any secret till date and will never utter a word in future too.”
Amar Singh also floated his own party, the Rashtriya lok Manch, and fielded candidates in 360 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 Assembly poll. His election symbol was a ‘bucket’, and in almost all election rallies, he talked about washing the sins of the SP.
He faced ignominious defeat. His candidates not only lost the election but also their deposits. In 2014, Amar Singh joined the Rashtriya lok Dal, contested the lok Sabha election from Fatehpur Sikri, and lost. This put a big question mark on his career.
The only way to resurrect his political life was through the SP. After he realised this, Amar Singh took no time to change his tone and started singing paeans to Mulayam Singh Yadav. He started calling himself a ‘Mulayamwadi’ and ‘not a Samajwadi’. The barbs against Mulayam Singh Yadav vanished and Amar Singh became a Mulayam bhakt.
When in October 31, 2014, Amar Singh shared the dais with Mulayam Singh Yadav, after a gap of over four and a half years, people started talking about Amar Singh’s return to the SP.
At that time, Akhilesh Yadav, who is also the State president of the SP, moved quickly towards Ram Gopal Yadav in an attempt to thwart the comeback. When Akhilesh Yadav realised that his father was committed to bringing Amar Singh back, he distanced himself from Ram Gopal Yadav. Mulayam Singh Yadav was backed by Shivpal Singh Yadav, who had earlier called Amar Singh his ‘big brother’.
Amar Singh, a flamboyant politician, who is known to have good relations in Bollywood, missed no opportunity to send the message across the political spectrum that there was a thaw in relations. He threw a reception party for the wedding of Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Singh Yadav, in New Delhi this year. The who’s who of the political and glamour world attended the reception. That day, it was clear that Amar Singh had plotted his return methodically by outsmarting his detractors and winning over Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Amar Singh’s return to the SP will be beneficial for Mulayam Singh Yadav. During his heydays, Amar Singh was the de facto number two in the party. He was the face of the Samajwadi Party in New Delhi. Mulayam Singh Yadav, as Chief Minister, used Amar Singh’s networking skill to rope in top industrialists for Uttar Pradesh’s Investment Board.
However, it remains to be seen how Mulayam Singh Yadav uses Amar Singh this time. Amar Singh is a shrewd political strategist with connections in all political parties. With his witty one-liners, he can win headlines for the SP. He can also create a political space in the national capital, which will help Mulayam Singh Yadav stay afloat in national politics for a longer period of time.