A Maverick Made Good

Amar Singh has resigned from the Samajwadi Party but his political and financial clout is far from finished

01 February 2010
Amar Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav (centre) and Ram Vilas Paswan (left) during an election campaign rally in Buxar, Bihar in April 2009.
AP IMAGES/PRASHANT RAVI
Amar Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav (centre) and Ram Vilas Paswan (left) during an election campaign rally in Buxar, Bihar in April 2009.
AP IMAGES/PRASHANT RAVI

THE OLD ORDER IS GIVING WAY to a new one. On the day that Jyoti Basu passed away in Kolkata, bringing to an end an era in Indian politics, Mulayam Singh Yadav accepted the resignation of Amar Singh as general secretary of the Samajwadi Party (SP), finally signalling a parting of ways between the two leaders who have guided the SP in recent years.

On his part, Amar Singh, who is never at a loss for words (which makes for good copy), said, “From now, I will be a Samajwadi, not a Mulayamwadi.”

His cryptic statement gave an insight into why Amar Singh may have sought to distance himself from Mulayam and from the party in which he enjoyed a clout unparalleled in regional outfits. A political wag quipped, “Had he been a Yadav, he would not have lasted as long as he did.”

Neerja Chowdhury is a senior journalist and political commentator.

Keywords: BSP Congress Indian politics Amar Singh Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Neerja Chowdhury resignation Mulayam Singh Yadav
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