Azam Khan wastes no time, pans Amar Singh's return as 'dukhad'

RAMPUR: A day after Samajwadi Party on Tuesday “unanimously“ declared expelled leader Amar Singh as one among the party's seven candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections, setting the stage for his possible return to the party, Rampur strongman and Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Azam Khan termed the development as “sad“.
Khan, one of the seniormost functionaries of the Mulayam-led party and a man who always had an uneasy relationship with Amar Singh, clearly seemed unhappy with the return of his bête noire into the party fold.

Addressing mediapersons at the Nawab railway station in Rampur, Khan said, “The return of Amar Singh is `dukhad' (sad). Mulayam Singh Yadav is the lord of the party and I will not challenge his decision, nor it is within my jurisdiction to do so.“

On rising speculation that former Bollywood actor-turned-parliamentarian Jaya Prada may also rejoin SP, Khan said, “Whatever is written in our destiny is bound to happen.“ SP on Tuesday announced the names of seven party candidates for the elections to the Upper House scheduled for next month.

The party's central parliamentary board, at a meeting in Lucknow, said that aside from Amar Singh, the other nominees are Beni Prasad Verma, Sanjay Seth, Sukhram Yadav, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Arvind Singh and Revti Raman Singh. Former Union minister Beni Prasad Verma, an influential Kurmi representative, had quit Congress and rejoined SP last week.Sanjay Seth is a leading builder from Lucknow.

The meeting was attended by Mulayam, chief minister Akhilesh yadav, the party's national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, senior ministers Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan and Kiranmoy Nanda among others.

When asked about when would Amar Singh rejoin the party formally, if at all, minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is a brother of Mulayam, had said on Tuesday, “It will be decided by Netaji (Mulayam) and Amar Singh. We have sent Congress members Pramod Tiwari and P L Punia to Rajya Sabha earlier also.“

Amar Singh and his close associate Jaya Prada were expelled from SP in February 2010. He later floated his own political party , Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011, and fielded a large number of candidates in the 2012 assembly polls, but his party failed to win a single seat.

He then joined the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Fatehpur Sikri but lost.