New Delhi, January 29: In his first direct president Mulayam Singh Yadav, former general secretary and party MP Amar Singh said on Thursday that he resigned from his party posts not just because of “health reasons” – but because he felt “suffocated” in the SP, a party that, along with its leader, had a “natural bonhomie” with criminal-politicians and was opposed to “modernity.”
“What I have done (resignation from party posts) is primarily because of health reasons but that is not the only reason,” Amar Singh said at Idea Exchange, an interaction with staffers of The Indian Express today. “I am embarrassed with myself that despite having several alternatives in life, even then I tolerated this suffocation for so long…maybe I loved the apparent importance…maybe I got too indulgent with that,” Singh said.
“The real cake (of the SP) comprises (criminal politicians) Mukhtar Ansaris, Atiq Ahmeds and D P Yadavs and the celebrities (like the Bachchans, Jaya Prada, Sanjay Dutt) were the whitewash…the icing on the cake (that hid the party’s reality),” Singh said. He underlined this by citing examples and being unsparing in his criticism of Mulayam.
“I will give you the example of Akhilesh Singh, who was supported by Janeshwar Mishra (who passed away last week). But Amarmani Tripathi of the Madhumita murder case…he still is in jail…Mulayam Singh is very much fond of Amarmani and his family and he wanted to field him while Janeshwar wanted to field Akhilesh Singh.
So his (Mulayam’s) choice of Amarmani, Mukhtar Ansari…natural bonhomie…I don’t want to say anything (because) traditionally we were very fond of such characters in the party. So Amarmani’s nephew was fielded as against Janeshwar Mishra’s choice,” Amar Singh said.
Incidentally, this remark comes the same day that the SP held a memorial service for Janeshwar Mishra.
“When I took up the case of an IAS officer threatened by party MP Atiq Ahmed with Mulayam Singh, he told me that there were two to three constituencies that the party wins because of him (Ahmed), so I better tolerate him.
It was only Ram Gopal Yadav who (said) we should arrest him. In fact, when I organized a rally of leaders like Chandrababu Naidu, Jayalalithaa, and Chautala in Allahabad, Mulayam insisted on bringing Atiq onto the stage,” Amar Singh said.
“In another case, where I had spoken against Mukhtar Ansari, Mulayam got back to me saying what rubbish I had said and asked me to write a letter apologizing to him (Ansari). When I said no, he asked me to write a regret letter to his brother Afzal Ansari. So I settled for that and wrote to Afzal, who was in jail,” Singh said.
He said that he detested “political criminality” which he said was the cornerstone of the SP’s politics. “It is better to be identified with Anil Ambani than with the Ansaris and Atiqs of the state (of Uttar Pradesh).”
Amar Singh then slammed the party and Mulayam for their opposition to computers and English, an opposition, he said, would fatally damage the party. He said that he had raised this issue in internal party fora but was over-ruled. That’s why, he said, many a time he had to “defend the indefensible.”
“I tried to justify Mulayam Singh Yadav’s stand by saying had he (Mulayam) been really opposed (to modern technology and English), how could he send his son Akhilesh to Australia for an education?…How did he allow his other son Prateek and nephew Teju to go for higher studies in UK?”
“(The veteran socialist) Raghu Thakur told me that the party’s newly appointed vice-president (Brijabhushan Tiwari) had told him that Mulayam Singh Yadav went to Singapore because he was not sure whether Amar Singh would survive (the kidney transplant operation)… for settling accounts with him,” Singh said. “Raghu Thakur says the party vice-president claims a huge amount of amassed wealth is lying with me and its accounts and accountability is the bone of contention.”
He dared the SP chief to “provide a shred of evidence that I have got party funds with me that is otherwise handled by (party accountant).”
Claiming that he had not “engineered” any derogatory CDs of the family (of Mulayam Singh), he said: “Even I have got something of that kind (CDs), which is derogatory, or defamatory to the family, not that I have got it made…may be from my postbox where lot of matter is dropped…but that doesn’t mean that those material will be used by me as it would create a credibility problem…If I have to remain in public life, I can not possibly use or misuse it.”
“I will not deny (having CDs or other material derogatory to the family)…but I have not got it made…I have not got engineered. How can I deny it? But I will never misuse it,” Singh said.
—Agencies