Amar Singh meets Akhilesh Yadav, sparks comeback speculation

LUCKNOW: Political purveyor Amar Singh met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav at his home here on Monday, just two days before his six-year expulsion from Samajwadi Party ends on January 27, fuelling conjecture over his return to the party.

"Every time I meet Netaji (Mulayam) or Akhilesh, people start talking about my return to SP," Singh told TOI.
Describing his meeting with Akhilesh as a social obligation, Singh said, "I am neither on a political post nor do I have any business interest. Why do people look for reasons for such meetings?"

Once SP's powerful general secretary, Amar Singh, who was expelled in 2010, said reports of his return to the party are work of those who want to settle personal grudges with him.

On his expulsion, Singh said he was hurt when he was thrown out of the party fold on his birthday which falls on January 27. "But I don't carry any baggage. Mulayam Singh has always been an elder brother to me and Akhilesh is like my son," he said.

Amar's previous meetings with Mulayam and Akhilesh too were seen as an attempt at a patch-up between them. Apart from official functions, he has been photographed with Mulayam during the wedding of the latter's grandnephew.
Earlier, he shared stage with Akhilesh during the CM's iftaar dinner at his 5, Kalidas Marg residence. While Mulayam backs Amar's return to the party, a few members, particularly SP's Muslim face Azam Khan, are wary.