Amar Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav to share dais after 4 years

LUCKNOW: More than four years after Amar Singh was expelled from Samajwadi Party, the once high-profile politician shared stage with his former mentor Mulayam Singh Yadav at the inauguration of a park dedicated to late socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra here on Tuesday. But the reunion was not Bollywood style, where Singh has many connections.

He got a rather cold reception instead, with both the SP chief and his son and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav choosing to keep him at a respectable distance after customary exchange of pleasantries.

Mulayam did not even mention Amar Singh while thanking those who were present on the occasion, even though he personally invited Amar Singh to attend the event through a late night phone call on Monday.

Singh in his speech said that he was a ‘Mulayamwadi’ and not a ‘Samajwadi’, reinforcing his loyalty to the party chief, and also hinting at the opposition he faces from senior SP leaders like minister Azam Khan and Mulayam’s powerful cousin Ramgopal Yadav, who had been at the forefront of his expulsion from the party in 2010.

Incidentally, both Khan and Ramgopal Yadav, who are usually present on such functions, were conspicuous by their absence on Tuesday. Khan told reporters that he could not attend the function because some guests had come to his house.