Mulayam loses his 'eyes, ears'

Amar Singh quits all party posts citing health reasons

Singh, who had almost become the urban face of the rural-centric Yadav and his party, gave broad hints of “deteriorating ties” with the SP chief and his son Akhilesh Yadav but insisted that he had resigned as per the advice of his doctors.

Singh was known for bringing Bollywood closer to Yadav and his rural constituency ‘Safai’. He facilitated the entry of actress and MP from Rampur Jaya Prada to the ranks of SP. Last year, Sanjay Dutt was also made general secretary of the party at the behest of Singh.

“My doctors said you are not well and you are living on somebody else’s kidney. Once I came back, there has been no change in my lifestyle and there is no division of labour in the party,”  said Singh who underwent a kidney transplant three months ago.

Singh was in recent months indirectly praising Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. He credited the Firozabad Lok Sabha election victory to Rahul Gandhi’s campaign which created flutter in the SP ranks. The Lok Sabha seat in UP was won by Congress candidate Raj Babbar against Dimple Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Mulayam and wife of his son Akhilesh Yadav.

Singh said SP top leaders did not attend to him during his illness in Singapore. “Only Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Ambani and their families were with me all the time”, he said.  
Asked if he would join any other party, Singh said, “I don’t know what is in store for me by destiny or by my own making.”

Yadav sought to downplay the resignation of Singh saying there were no differences with him and that he had quit only as general secretary of the party.
Isolation?

Meanwhile, SP leaders opine that Singh’s resignation was “on the way” given his “isolation” within the party of late.

They said a section of the party leaders had turned against Singh after the party’s drubbing at the general election last year.