End of bad vibes? Amar Singh likely to be back in Samajwadi Party fold soon

By Vivek Avasthi Lucknow: Amar Singh, who has been in political wilderness after quitting the Samajwadi Party, is likely to make a comeback to the party soon. Sources say that SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is convinced that the once flamboyant politician known for his Bollywood connections will prove to be an asset once again.[caption id=“attachment_2218392” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amar Singh. Reuters [/caption] During his days in the party, Amar, a good networker, served as its face in Delhi. The SP sorely misses the services of a competent person in the National Capital after his exit and it has affected its equations with other parties at the national level. He is also credited with bringing a host of industrialists close to the Mulayam clan. With an eye to filling that void, Mulayam, his powerful minister brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have softened their stand towards him. With his larger-than-life persona, Amar had created strong enemies within the party. A major impediment to his re-entry is the party’s minority voice and Urban Development Minister in the state Azam Khan. Smelling signs of Amar’s entry in the party, Azam recently went to the extent of alleging that he faces life threat from the duo of Amar Singh and BJP MLA Sangeet Som. Mulayam himself is said to have taken up the task of cooling his temper. Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Agarwal are also opposed to him, but the party high command feels they could be managed. Amar Singh has had many meetings with Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav in the recent past. He was even seen sharing the stage with the SP chief during the inauguration ceremony of the Janeshwar Mishra Park in Lucknow in August last year. Amar Singh, for the time being at least, seems to be a quite mellowed down personality. Known for giving befitting replies to his detractors, he chose to be polite this time around. He said he regards Azam Khan as an elder brother and would ask the Home Minister Rajnath Singh to remove his personal security cover and give it to Azam. As about his equations with Sangeet Som of the BJP, Amar Singh says that he knows him as any other ‘Thakur’ neta from Uttar Pradesh. He had resigned from the party in 2010 and floated a new political outfit called Rashtriya Lok Manch. In the 2012 assembly elections, he had fielded candidates on 360 seats. All of them ended up forfeiting their deposits. Amar Singh later joined Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and contested the 2014 General Elections from Fatehpur Sikri parliamentary constituency but lost badly. He also tried to revive his old connections with the Congress and also knocked the doors of the BJP but nothing materialised in his favour. Amar Singh had even levelled allegations of serious nature against Mulayam and even threatened to expose him. But all that may be forgotten soon.