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The Art of being Amar Singh

The Art of being Amar Singh

His ‘fixing’ skills and excellent rapport across party line ensures Amar Singh never goes out of currency

Hit me, kick me, abuse me but always keep my name on the board –Winston Churchill.

One Indian politician that emulated Churchill’s golden words is Amar Singh. The political build up for general elections 2019 has started picking up and so are the stocks of Amar Singh. The massive Modi wave of 2014 has evaporated and BJP-RSS have to contest the elections on the facts and performance of the last five years. Unfortunately the BJP is facing anti incumbency in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujrat and Maharashtra. The emotional issues of Ram Temple, uniform civil code, to abolish article 370 in J&K has not moved an inch during the Modi’s era. So the apex policy makers in BJP and RSS must come up with innovative and radical ideas to attract the voters in favour of them yet again in 2019.

*President rule in J&K is an attempt to consolidate BJP national vote bank despite BJP and Mehbooba enjoys cordial relationship even now.

*To bring petrol and diesel under GST in the two months before the announcement of elections dates, it will offer a relief of Rs 10 per litre.

* Push the anti corruption agenda by forcing conviction in the ongoing prominent cases, it will give perception that Modi government is different than the previous governments.

*Prime Minister’s performance is excellent but his cabinet colleagues are a miserable failure with exception of Nitin Gadkari. PM must include special talent namely Subramanium Swamy and Varun Gandhi to boost freshness in approach even if the time is limited.

* Two states namely Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are likely to decide the outcome of the next general elections so to break opposition unity index in both the states will be the key for securing success. To bring back Shiv Sena in NDA and breaking up SP-BSP alliance will secure comfortable victories. And to break SP-BSP alliance and micro operation within SP is assigned to Amar Singh.

So Amar Singh is relevant again in 2019 for the ruling NDA and BJP to swing the fortune in their favour. Born in a Rajput family in Aligarh, politics was always his principle passion. Young Amar Singh had always great memory and brilliant oratory that attracted major political people cutting across party line. Till recently he was one of the tallest leaders in the Samajwadi Party. He was the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. On 6 January 2010, he resigned from all the posts of Samajwadi Party and was later expelled from the party by its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav on 2 February 2010. He took retirement from politics citing poor health. In his statement he mentioned, “I want to give more time to my wife and my family. However in 2016, he rejoined Samajwadi Party and was elected to Rajya Sabha even after facing a stiff opposition from a section of the party including the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav. He was also reinstated as one of the general secretaries of the party in October 2016. But the Yadav family feud forced Amar Singh to side with his mentor Mulayam Singh Yadav that led to differences with then CM of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. Ultimately it led to expulsion of Amar Singh from the party and he became unattached member in the Rajya Sabha.

However, it was in July 2008 that Singh rose to political prominence. Singh’s prominence in Delhi surged when the UPA government was reduced to a minority after the Communist Party of India withdrew their support over the proposed Nuclear Accord with the United States. His Samajwadi Party pledged support to the UPA government with the support of its 39 members. Amar Singh closeness with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and strategic grip over his party propelled him to the centre stage of the national polity. In the process, he attracted powerful friends and even more powerful enemies. The powerful lobbies worked against the sudden rise of Amar Singh and on 6 January 2010, he was forced to resign as general secretary of the party as well as from its parliamentary board and as its spokesperson. He also used his blog to speak about his abrupt departure from the Samajwadi Party. On 21 December 2010, Singh launched his official website and blog, supposedly after being encouraged by Hindi film maga star Amitabh Bachchan, whom he was close to at the time.

As the destiny has it, Then Chief Minister of UP Late Vir Bahadur Singh introduced Amar Singh with Mulayam Singh Yadav with an agenda to target VP Singh for neutralizing growing threat for Rajiv Gandhi from VP Singh. This meeting was the turning point in Amar Singh’s political career that sparked the rise of Amar Singh. Singh’s first stint in politics happened in 1985 when he was assigned to look after UP chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh while he was in the city for a programme organised by the Thakur community of Kolkata. Impressed with Singh, the chief minister invited him to Lucknow. Quick to recognise the potential of the invitation, Singh shifted to Lucknow. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was then an outsider to Delhi’s power circles had met Singh at Vir Bahadur Singh’s residence and saw the merit of a man whose reach ranged from politicians and film sets to corporate houses. This marked the beginning of his friendship with Netaji, who was then a staunch socialist, worked at the grass root level and followed the instructions of veteran socialist leader and thinker Madhu Limaye and Ram Manohar Lohia. However Amar Singh ventured closely with Congress party to explore his political options under Madhav Rao Scindia patronage. Incidentally Amar Singh was in the board of directors of Hindustan Times, newspaper owned by Birla’s, traditional Congress supporters. He almost fought parliamentary elections in 1991 on congress ticket but Arjun Singh and Digvijay Singh opposed his nomination that led to Amar Singh’s disillusionment with the congress party. Many years later, Mulayam Singh Yadav happily welcomed Singh on board in 1996. The alliance was mutually beneficial and gave the businessman political heft. Amar Singh’s rendezvous with industrialists and Bollywood gained prominence as he bailed them out of crisis, either by offering them financial aid or liaising for them at Lutyens’ Delhi. He wielded influence and power and had contacts with both rustic politicians and elite socialites. Given the responsibility of being SP’s spokesperson in Delhi, Singh soon became the face of the party in the national capital and also rose to the position of No. 2 in SP, edging out veterans like Beni Prasad Verma, Raj Babbar and Mohammed Azam Khan, among others. “Most of the SP leaders, including Ram Gopal Yadav, Mohammed Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav may not be very pleased with the decision of Mulayam Singh. Typical of a regional party which is headed by a patriarch, the entire politics of the organization revolves around the patriarch. Amar Singh became the eyes and ears of Mulayam Singh Yadav and this made a lot of leaders jealous of him,” the SP leader said. Later in 1996 when H.D. Deve Gowda was prime minister and Yadav, a key supporter of Gowda, was defence minister in the Union cabinet, Amar Singh formally joined SP in the same year to become one of the most influential lead in Delhi. Singh has remained the face of SP in Delhi’s power circles ever since, and has always been identified as a close confidant of Yadav, who later became Uttar Pradesh chief minister. SP was a traditional party till 1996, the basic organizational network of SP was in rural and semi urban areas, but after Amar Singh joined in 1996, he brought glamour, political connections, Bollywood, network with big industrial houses with him to the party. He managed to change the basic image of the party.

Yet again in 2016, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision to nominate Singh as one of the seven candidates for the Rajya Sabha comes as a political resurrection of the 60-year-old master strategist of the SP, ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. A shrewd politician and a Bollywood socialite, Singh’s journey from the lanes of Burrabazzar in North Kolkata to the power corridors of Delhi and gradual exit from the scene is unmatched. “There is one quality of Mulayam Singh Yadav which cannot be matched by any other politician. If a person has been with Mulayam Singh Yadav during his good and bad times, the SP chief doesn’t forget it. He doesn’t care if the public perception of the person is good or bad, but he will return the favour if he thinks the person has served him well. And Amar Singh is one such person who continues to remain very close to Mulayam Singh Yadav,” the SP leader quoted above said.

It will not be prudent to say that we are not friends. It will not be proper to say we are enemies,” Singh was quoted in a report by News 18 dated 4 July 2008, a statement reflective of Singh’s tongue-in-cheek way of talking. Singh’s 31-year-old political career has seen controversies and allegations of many hues. Singh has time and again grabbed headlines over several charges -- whether it is the July 2008 cash-forvotes scam where a chargesheet was filed against him for allegedly bribing three Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MPs to vote for the UPA government which was facing a floor test in the parliament; the 2011 phone tapping controversy where taped phone conversations revealed Singh allegedly fixing deals with politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and Bollywood celebrities; or the 2011 ‘fix-a-judge’ controversy where again a CD allegedly showed Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav in conversation with former law minister Shanti Bhushan suggesting that a judge could be bribed for Rs.4 crore for a desired court verdict. In spite of these charges he was given a clean chit by Speaker Mr. Somnath Chatterjee and from lower court to Supreme Court in “Cash for Vote” scam for total absence of any tangible evidence against him. In telephone tapping case Attorney General of India Mr. Ghulam Vahanvati accepted in Supreme Court that said controversial tapes were forged and doctored and therefore Chief Justice Sabarwal gave a stay instructing the media to not use these doctored tapes.

Amar Singh’s growing dominance in the domestic power corridors pushed him to international arena. It is Amar Singh’s persuasive skills that brought US President Bill Clinton to India on a private visit to Lucknow city that boosted the stock of Samajwadi Party in the international arena. In reference to the book Clinton Cash, the New York Post questioned Singh’s $5 million contribution to the Clinton Foundation, writing “Singh’s donation was treated with suspicion and amusement in India as the US Congress debated the landmark India-US civilian nuclear deal. Friends and politicians who have worked closely with Singh call him a hardworking and resourceful person who has always had a political bent of mind. SP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kiranmoy Nanda who has known Singh since the time Singh was part of the Youth Congress in Kolkata, says that “Singh is and has always been a political person.” Amar Singh is a very resourceful man and by that I not just mean monetarily, which obviously stands true. But even his personal relationship with the media namely Shobhna Bharatia of Hindustan Times, Subhash Chandra of Zee Media, Rajat Sharma of India Tv etc which he handles so well, as well as his political understanding with leaders cutting across party lines - all have helped Singh reach where he is today,” he says.

However, Singh’s political career saw a downward spiral after his expulsion from the SP following fallout with Yadav in 2010.He floated his own political party, the Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011, and unsuccessfully fielded a number of candidates in the 2012 assembly polls in the state. He tried to revive his career again in 2014, ahead of parliamentary elections, when he and former Bollywood star Jaya Prada joined Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) but failed again as Singh lost the Lok Sabha poll from the Fatehpur Sikri seat. Amar Singh is a political obsessed man, looking to be politically relevant irrespective of win or loss. According to Amar Singh, “life without politics is unthinkable”. Even after the loss, he scored a point that Amar Singh is not politically untouchable.

In his long political career, Amar Singh has held many important positions starting from 1997-98 : Member, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, 1998-99 and Oct. 2004 onwards Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance, June 1998 – Feb. 2004 and Aug. 2004 – Aug. 2006 : Member, Committee on Finance, 1999–2001 : Member, Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Rajya Sabha, 1999 : Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Member, Informal Consultative Committee for Northern Railway Zone, April 2001 – Dec.2002 : Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Stock Market Scam and matters relating thereto, March 2002 – Nov. 2002 : Member, Committee on Petitions, Nov. 2002 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha, June 2003 – Aug. 2004 : Member, Committee of Privileges, Aug. 2004 – May 2009 and Aug.2009 onwards : Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, Aug. 2004 onwards : Member, General Purposes Committee, Sept. 2006 onwards : Member, Business Advisory Committee, May 2008 – Nov. 2008 : Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Nov. 2008 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha, Jan. 2010 onwards : Member, Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health, 2016 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh as a member of Samajwadi Party.

Amar Singh has held many important positions in the government namely Director, (i) Indian Airlines, (ii) State Bank of India and (iii) National Textiles Corporation; previously associated with Congress; was Secretary, District Congress Committee, Calcutta; was Member, (i) A.I.C.C. and (ii) United Front Steering Committee; Member, (i) Board of Governors of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, (ii) Telephone Advisory Committee, Telecom District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, 1998, (iii) Telephone Advisory Committee, Telecom District Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 1999 and (iv) Hindi Salahkar Samiti of the Department of Defence Production and Supplies and Defence Research and Development Organisation; All India General Secretary, Samajwadi Party; National Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party

Road Ahead

In an era dominated by RSS ideology, Amar Singh is no outsider in the power corridors based in Nagpur. According to him, his association with RSS dates back to three decades. Then PM Chandrashekhar with Amar Singh helped Nanaji Deshmukh to establish Ashram in Chitrakoot. Amar Singh was personally close to former RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiyya and he was regular visitor to Allahabad during Rajju Bhaiyya tenure leading to his active association with prominent RSS functionaries that are in control of the organization today. According to Amar Singh, RSS is a nationalist organization with extremely high moral value and is dedicated to building character of the native Indians vital to flare nationalist value in every citizen. Recently, Amar Singh is spotted in many RSS functions to consolidate the old relationship. This strategic relationship is taking him closer to RSS promoted political entity BJP. In an era of Modi and Shah, Amar Singh integration in the party is a mere formality.

The next general election in 2019 will throw a great challenge to Modi Shah Partnership. The 2014 wave is missing but BJP organization is much more muscular and the resources available with the party are better than the previous elections. Fortunately the brand Modi remains intact to be marked as the face of next elections. But BJP is facing a threat from the combined opposition to target BJP state wise. Today BJP is challenged by a probable alliance between SP & BSP in UP. The sheer articulation of the vote bank puts BJP strategy on the edge. So BJP has opted to co-operate its next move taking the services of UP veteran Amar Singh because nobody knows DNA of SP and BSP better than Amar Singh in the current political scene. Amar Singh insight knowledge of Samajwadi Party will be offered to BJP Chief strategic Amit Shah to break the party’s core strength while contesting the next Lok Sabha elections.

Further the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi is struggling to push the development agenda that is vital to the success of terminally sick UP, struggling between the politics of Mandal and Kamandal. Amar Singh through his vast network of industrialist friends is likely to play a proactive role in the industrialization of the state. An indication to this effect came from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent UP Industrial summit wherein PM has applauded Amar Singh association with business people. Amar Singh is likely to be deputed by the Prime Minister to accelerate the industrialization process of the state, to assist Yogi Government in pushing the development agenda.

Solving Amar riddle

Decoding the three decade old complexed riddle Amar Katha is a great research work; our team has explored all unconventional methods to extract informal information to engage interest of the people reading Opinion Express. Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief, speaks candidly to Amar Singh recently to explore his next political move and roadmap ahead.

Q Why Amar Singh is controversial name in Indian politics? Is it deliberately designed strategy to be relevant or you love camera and limelight?

  1. I am not controversial but I can’t help if the controversy chases me always. For example, Akhilesh Yadav blamed me for the SP spilt but now that I am not in the party, the division in the SP party remains the same. It is easy to find the scapegoat and remain away from the realities of life. Today I refuse to accept being the punching bag for anyone. Similarly, I had extended full help to Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani during my days of power but they shunted me out when I needed them the most during my tough times. Instead of cooperating with me, they created controversy to push me out. You tell me that my parting away from Ambani family has resulted in reunion of the family? So who is to be blamed? All of them have vested self interest and they act in accordance to the greed for power or money and blame Amar Singh for the fiasco. I have learned practical lesson in life, and I will be dealing with them accordingly. I have learned from the famous Abrahim Lincons quote, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Akhilesh Yadav, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Ambani, Subrora Roy etc are no exceptions. All these characters were the beneficiary of my help during their crisis time, they flourished and prospered riding on my back, and the same characterless people evaded me during my crisis time. I am happy being a small man and let big people like Anil Ambani face the business collapse with crores of debt. Akhilesh has shown his character by deceiving his living father who incidentally is the founder of the party that he is heading today. He is thrown out of power in UP in the recent assembly elections and Akhilesh have no hope in the near future.

Q Your parliamentary track record is phenomenal, the issue raised by you have national impact namely on the farmer, agriculture, defence and industries etc. There are few MP’s who understand synergy of politics and business better than you. Do you think this is the reason why Industry loves you?

  1. Yes I agree that my track record of being associated with big business houses prior to entering politics is unique. I have worked with Birla’s and Bhartia’s for many years including being the directorship of Hindustan Times. In my golden days, even Reliance and Sahara was beneficiary of my business acumen. Several middle time business groups have made fortunes by associating with me. Surely I have gained experience in the corporate environment that has proved a great value in my parliamentary life.

Q You have matured in a seasoned political mode after three decades of national politics, surely you are a success story in parliament yet people call you “power broker”, “dalal” and “fixer”, why?

  1. I feel privileged that frustrated people who are jealous of my political progress do make similar comments. I am from humble background so people in Lutyens Delhi can’t digest my accession to power. There is an elite club that exists in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Omar Abdullha, Tejeswani Yadav, Stalin, Jagan Reddy may indulge in much worse corrupt practices in politics but just because they are from the political background, nobody questions their lifestyle, ideology, political integrity. It is only after Chaiwala has become Neta No1 in India, the adjectives are shifted to people who have looted India by promoting dynasties. People with no competence are allowed to occupy high chair are the real power brokers and dalals. So I have left it to the people of this country to identify and shame the real “power brokers”, “dalals” in the Indian politics.

Q How do you rate Narendra Modi four years of rule in Delhi? And how Yogi has performed in UP in the last one year?

  1. Excellent. The pro poor scheme launched by PM Modi has touched the last mile in the country. Opening up of 30 crore bank accounts, DBT transfer to bank accounts, free gas cylinder distribution, electricity to all, affordable housing to all are the various schemes. The foreign policy of the Modi government has isolated Pakistan globally. We have become a dependable friend of USA and Israel. The Middle East countries have started cooperating directly with us instead of favouring Pakistan. Look East policy has yielded results and Japan and South Korea are now our dependable allies. On the home front, the naxal problem and internal security remained under control. The corruption in India at the high level has gone down drastically. In UP, Yogi Government has done a great work on law and order front. UP has struggled in the Mandal and Kamandal politics since three decades so Yogi government has a challenge to overcome the psyche of the people and make the development agenda the priority so that 22 crore people of UP can taste the benefit of development as rest of India has witnessed in the past. Amar Singh made it amply clear that he liked the leadership of PM Modi and now his entire life was dedicated to him.

Q You were the architect of Mahagatbandhan in 1996 when Devegowda was made the PM, what difference do you feel that prevails in India today when entire opposition is united against Narendra Modi?

  1. Simple, 1996 opposition unity was success because there was no clear face of governance wherein in 2019; Narendra Modi is a decisive clear leader challenging the entire opposition. The track record of Modi since 2014 and the corruption free governance is likely to be the key for the imminent success of Modi and definite failure of Mahagatbandhan. Nobody in India knows the insight of the then coalition and its weakness better than me. I have worked closely with SP, TMC, RLD, JD(U), TDP leadership and I know the ambitions all the regional players, surely none of them have a national footprint and sheer dream of placing any regional leader as the PM will be a certain flop show. Making it amply clear that I like the leadership of PM Modi and now my entire life will be dedicated to him. And I will aggressively campaign against the “bua-babua jodi” (Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav) emerging in UP ahead of the LS elections. “I am an independent MP and still four years of my tenure are left. I will prefer to do aggressive campaigns for PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath as I don’t approve of buababua jodi.”

Q You are a politically obsessed person going ahead, how do you see your role in the coming months specially when all important national elections are due in 2019 and 80 parliamentary seats of UP is likely to decide the next PM of the country?

  1. Narendra Modi pro poor clean image will overpower everyone in the next general elections in India and UP. I have no doubt that Modi’s national stature with Amit Shah driven BJP organizational strength, Yogi’s hard work will overpower opponent. Additionally, RSS will be very proactive under Sarkaryavah Dattaji Hosabale, sitting and functioning from Lucknow as his main functioning centre. And when you look at the probable opponents than a miserable picture emerges in mind. The SP is broken in several small family groups and BSP is just a caste specific party with a limited appeal now. Congress is left with no clear ideology and assertive leadership and aging long queue of regional leaders namely Devegowda, Sharad Pawar, OP Chauthala, Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav are on the wrong side of the life so to throw a serious challenge on Narendra Modi will be virtually impossible for them in the coming general elections. People have a clear choice of opting for a nationalist honest leader verses corrupt family ridden politics of discredited leaders.

The Art of being Amar Singh

The Art of being Amar Singh

His ‘fixing’ skills and excellent rapport across party line ensures Amar Singh never goes out of currency

Hit me, kick me, abuse me but always keep my name on the board –Winston Churchill.

One Indian politician that emulated Churchill’s golden words is Amar Singh. The political build up for general elections 2019 has started picking up and so are the stocks of Amar Singh. The massive Modi wave of 2014 has evaporated and BJP-RSS have to contest the elections on the facts and performance of the last five years. Unfortunately the BJP is facing anti incumbency in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujrat and Maharashtra. The emotional issues of Ram Temple, uniform civil code, to abolish article 370 in J&K has not moved an inch during the Modi’s era. So the apex policy makers in BJP and RSS must come up with innovative and radical ideas to attract the voters in favour of them yet again in 2019.

*President rule in J&K is an attempt to consolidate BJP national vote bank despite BJP and Mehbooba enjoys cordial relationship even now.

*To bring petrol and diesel under GST in the two months before the announcement of elections dates, it will offer a relief of Rs 10 per litre.

* Push the anti corruption agenda by forcing conviction in the ongoing prominent cases, it will give perception that Modi government is different than the previous governments.

*Prime Minister’s performance is excellent but his cabinet colleagues are a miserable failure with exception of Nitin Gadkari. PM must include special talent namely Subramanium Swamy and Varun Gandhi to boost freshness in approach even if the time is limited.

* Two states namely Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are likely to decide the outcome of the next general elections so to break opposition unity index in both the states will be the key for securing success. To bring back Shiv Sena in NDA and breaking up SP-BSP alliance will secure comfortable victories. And to break SP-BSP alliance and micro operation within SP is assigned to Amar Singh.

So Amar Singh is relevant again in 2019 for the ruling NDA and BJP to swing the fortune in their favour. Born in a Rajput family in Aligarh, politics was always his principle passion. Young Amar Singh had always great memory and brilliant oratory that attracted major political people cutting across party line. Till recently he was one of the tallest leaders in the Samajwadi Party. He was the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. On 6 January 2010, he resigned from all the posts of Samajwadi Party and was later expelled from the party by its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav on 2 February 2010. He took retirement from politics citing poor health. In his statement he mentioned, “I want to give more time to my wife and my family. However in 2016, he rejoined Samajwadi Party and was elected to Rajya Sabha even after facing a stiff opposition from a section of the party including the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav. He was also reinstated as one of the general secretaries of the party in October 2016. But the Yadav family feud forced Amar Singh to side with his mentor Mulayam Singh Yadav that led to differences with then CM of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. Ultimately it led to expulsion of Amar Singh from the party and he became unattached member in the Rajya Sabha.

However, it was in July 2008 that Singh rose to political prominence. Singh’s prominence in Delhi surged when the UPA government was reduced to a minority after the Communist Party of India withdrew their support over the proposed Nuclear Accord with the United States. His Samajwadi Party pledged support to the UPA government with the support of its 39 members. Amar Singh closeness with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and strategic grip over his party propelled him to the centre stage of the national polity. In the process, he attracted powerful friends and even more powerful enemies. The powerful lobbies worked against the sudden rise of Amar Singh and on 6 January 2010, he was forced to resign as general secretary of the party as well as from its parliamentary board and as its spokesperson. He also used his blog to speak about his abrupt departure from the Samajwadi Party. On 21 December 2010, Singh launched his official website and blog, supposedly after being encouraged by Hindi film maga star Amitabh Bachchan, whom he was close to at the time.

As the destiny has it, Then Chief Minister of UP Late Vir Bahadur Singh introduced Amar Singh with Mulayam Singh Yadav with an agenda to target VP Singh for neutralizing growing threat for Rajiv Gandhi from VP Singh. This meeting was the turning point in Amar Singh’s political career that sparked the rise of Amar Singh. Singh’s first stint in politics happened in 1985 when he was assigned to look after UP chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh while he was in the city for a programme organised by the Thakur community of Kolkata. Impressed with Singh, the chief minister invited him to Lucknow. Quick to recognise the potential of the invitation, Singh shifted to Lucknow. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was then an outsider to Delhi’s power circles had met Singh at Vir Bahadur Singh’s residence and saw the merit of a man whose reach ranged from politicians and film sets to corporate houses. This marked the beginning of his friendship with Netaji, who was then a staunch socialist, worked at the grass root level and followed the instructions of veteran socialist leader and thinker Madhu Limaye and Ram Manohar Lohia. However Amar Singh ventured closely with Congress party to explore his political options under Madhav Rao Scindia patronage. Incidentally Amar Singh was in the board of directors of Hindustan Times, newspaper owned by Birla’s, traditional Congress supporters. He almost fought parliamentary elections in 1991 on congress ticket but Arjun Singh and Digvijay Singh opposed his nomination that led to Amar Singh’s disillusionment with the congress party. Many years later, Mulayam Singh Yadav happily welcomed Singh on board in 1996. The alliance was mutually beneficial and gave the businessman political heft. Amar Singh’s rendezvous with industrialists and Bollywood gained prominence as he bailed them out of crisis, either by offering them financial aid or liaising for them at Lutyens’ Delhi. He wielded influence and power and had contacts with both rustic politicians and elite socialites. Given the responsibility of being SP’s spokesperson in Delhi, Singh soon became the face of the party in the national capital and also rose to the position of No. 2 in SP, edging out veterans like Beni Prasad Verma, Raj Babbar and Mohammed Azam Khan, among others. “Most of the SP leaders, including Ram Gopal Yadav, Mohammed Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav may not be very pleased with the decision of Mulayam Singh. Typical of a regional party which is headed by a patriarch, the entire politics of the organization revolves around the patriarch. Amar Singh became the eyes and ears of Mulayam Singh Yadav and this made a lot of leaders jealous of him,” the SP leader said. Later in 1996 when H.D. Deve Gowda was prime minister and Yadav, a key supporter of Gowda, was defence minister in the Union cabinet, Amar Singh formally joined SP in the same year to become one of the most influential lead in Delhi. Singh has remained the face of SP in Delhi’s power circles ever since, and has always been identified as a close confidant of Yadav, who later became Uttar Pradesh chief minister. SP was a traditional party till 1996, the basic organizational network of SP was in rural and semi urban areas, but after Amar Singh joined in 1996, he brought glamour, political connections, Bollywood, network with big industrial houses with him to the party. He managed to change the basic image of the party.

Yet again in 2016, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision to nominate Singh as one of the seven candidates for the Rajya Sabha comes as a political resurrection of the 60-year-old master strategist of the SP, ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. A shrewd politician and a Bollywood socialite, Singh’s journey from the lanes of Burrabazzar in North Kolkata to the power corridors of Delhi and gradual exit from the scene is unmatched. “There is one quality of Mulayam Singh Yadav which cannot be matched by any other politician. If a person has been with Mulayam Singh Yadav during his good and bad times, the SP chief doesn’t forget it. He doesn’t care if the public perception of the person is good or bad, but he will return the favour if he thinks the person has served him well. And Amar Singh is one such person who continues to remain very close to Mulayam Singh Yadav,” the SP leader quoted above said.

It will not be prudent to say that we are not friends. It will not be proper to say we are enemies,” Singh was quoted in a report by News 18 dated 4 July 2008, a statement reflective of Singh’s tongue-in-cheek way of talking. Singh’s 31-year-old political career has seen controversies and allegations of many hues. Singh has time and again grabbed headlines over several charges -- whether it is the July 2008 cash-forvotes scam where a chargesheet was filed against him for allegedly bribing three Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MPs to vote for the UPA government which was facing a floor test in the parliament; the 2011 phone tapping controversy where taped phone conversations revealed Singh allegedly fixing deals with politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and Bollywood celebrities; or the 2011 ‘fix-a-judge’ controversy where again a CD allegedly showed Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav in conversation with former law minister Shanti Bhushan suggesting that a judge could be bribed for Rs.4 crore for a desired court verdict. In spite of these charges he was given a clean chit by Speaker Mr. Somnath Chatterjee and from lower court to Supreme Court in “Cash for Vote” scam for total absence of any tangible evidence against him. In telephone tapping case Attorney General of India Mr. Ghulam Vahanvati accepted in Supreme Court that said controversial tapes were forged and doctored and therefore Chief Justice Sabarwal gave a stay instructing the media to not use these doctored tapes.

Amar Singh’s growing dominance in the domestic power corridors pushed him to international arena. It is Amar Singh’s persuasive skills that brought US President Bill Clinton to India on a private visit to Lucknow city that boosted the stock of Samajwadi Party in the international arena. In reference to the book Clinton Cash, the New York Post questioned Singh’s $5 million contribution to the Clinton Foundation, writing “Singh’s donation was treated with suspicion and amusement in India as the US Congress debated the landmark India-US civilian nuclear deal. Friends and politicians who have worked closely with Singh call him a hardworking and resourceful person who has always had a political bent of mind. SP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kiranmoy Nanda who has known Singh since the time Singh was part of the Youth Congress in Kolkata, says that “Singh is and has always been a political person.” Amar Singh is a very resourceful man and by that I not just mean monetarily, which obviously stands true. But even his personal relationship with the media namely Shobhna Bharatia of Hindustan Times, Subhash Chandra of Zee Media, Rajat Sharma of India Tv etc which he handles so well, as well as his political understanding with leaders cutting across party lines - all have helped Singh reach where he is today,” he says.

However, Singh’s political career saw a downward spiral after his expulsion from the SP following fallout with Yadav in 2010.He floated his own political party, the Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011, and unsuccessfully fielded a number of candidates in the 2012 assembly polls in the state. He tried to revive his career again in 2014, ahead of parliamentary elections, when he and former Bollywood star Jaya Prada joined Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) but failed again as Singh lost the Lok Sabha poll from the Fatehpur Sikri seat. Amar Singh is a political obsessed man, looking to be politically relevant irrespective of win or loss. According to Amar Singh, “life without politics is unthinkable”. Even after the loss, he scored a point that Amar Singh is not politically untouchable.

In his long political career, Amar Singh has held many important positions starting from 1997-98 : Member, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, 1998-99 and Oct. 2004 onwards Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance, June 1998 – Feb. 2004 and Aug. 2004 – Aug. 2006 : Member, Committee on Finance, 1999–2001 : Member, Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Rajya Sabha, 1999 : Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Member, Informal Consultative Committee for Northern Railway Zone, April 2001 – Dec.2002 : Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Stock Market Scam and matters relating thereto, March 2002 – Nov. 2002 : Member, Committee on Petitions, Nov. 2002 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha, June 2003 – Aug. 2004 : Member, Committee of Privileges, Aug. 2004 – May 2009 and Aug.2009 onwards : Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, Aug. 2004 onwards : Member, General Purposes Committee, Sept. 2006 onwards : Member, Business Advisory Committee, May 2008 – Nov. 2008 : Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Nov. 2008 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha, Jan. 2010 onwards : Member, Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health, 2016 : Re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh as a member of Samajwadi Party.

Amar Singh has held many important positions in the government namely Director, (i) Indian Airlines, (ii) State Bank of India and (iii) National Textiles Corporation; previously associated with Congress; was Secretary, District Congress Committee, Calcutta; was Member, (i) A.I.C.C. and (ii) United Front Steering Committee; Member, (i) Board of Governors of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, (ii) Telephone Advisory Committee, Telecom District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, 1998, (iii) Telephone Advisory Committee, Telecom District Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 1999 and (iv) Hindi Salahkar Samiti of the Department of Defence Production and Supplies and Defence Research and Development Organisation; All India General Secretary, Samajwadi Party; National Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party

Road Ahead

In an era dominated by RSS ideology, Amar Singh is no outsider in the power corridors based in Nagpur. According to him, his association with RSS dates back to three decades. Then PM Chandrashekhar with Amar Singh helped Nanaji Deshmukh to establish Ashram in Chitrakoot. Amar Singh was personally close to former RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiyya and he was regular visitor to Allahabad during Rajju Bhaiyya tenure leading to his active association with prominent RSS functionaries that are in control of the organization today. According to Amar Singh, RSS is a nationalist organization with extremely high moral value and is dedicated to building character of the native Indians vital to flare nationalist value in every citizen. Recently, Amar Singh is spotted in many RSS functions to consolidate the old relationship. This strategic relationship is taking him closer to RSS promoted political entity BJP. In an era of Modi and Shah, Amar Singh integration in the party is a mere formality.

The next general election in 2019 will throw a great challenge to Modi Shah Partnership. The 2014 wave is missing but BJP organization is much more muscular and the resources available with the party are better than the previous elections. Fortunately the brand Modi remains intact to be marked as the face of next elections. But BJP is facing a threat from the combined opposition to target BJP state wise. Today BJP is challenged by a probable alliance between SP & BSP in UP. The sheer articulation of the vote bank puts BJP strategy on the edge. So BJP has opted to co-operate its next move taking the services of UP veteran Amar Singh because nobody knows DNA of SP and BSP better than Amar Singh in the current political scene. Amar Singh insight knowledge of Samajwadi Party will be offered to BJP Chief strategic Amit Shah to break the party’s core strength while contesting the next Lok Sabha elections.

Further the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi is struggling to push the development agenda that is vital to the success of terminally sick UP, struggling between the politics of Mandal and Kamandal. Amar Singh through his vast network of industrialist friends is likely to play a proactive role in the industrialization of the state. An indication to this effect came from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent UP Industrial summit wherein PM has applauded Amar Singh association with business people. Amar Singh is likely to be deputed by the Prime Minister to accelerate the industrialization process of the state, to assist Yogi Government in pushing the development agenda.

Solving Amar riddle

Decoding the three decade old complexed riddle Amar Katha is a great research work; our team has explored all unconventional methods to extract informal information to engage interest of the people reading Opinion Express. Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief, speaks candidly to Amar Singh recently to explore his next political move and roadmap ahead.

Q Why Amar Singh is controversial name in Indian politics? Is it deliberately designed strategy to be relevant or you love camera and limelight?

  1. I am not controversial but I can’t help if the controversy chases me always. For example, Akhilesh Yadav blamed me for the SP spilt but now that I am not in the party, the division in the SP party remains the same. It is easy to find the scapegoat and remain away from the realities of life. Today I refuse to accept being the punching bag for anyone. Similarly, I had extended full help to Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani during my days of power but they shunted me out when I needed them the most during my tough times. Instead of cooperating with me, they created controversy to push me out. You tell me that my parting away from Ambani family has resulted in reunion of the family? So who is to be blamed? All of them have vested self interest and they act in accordance to the greed for power or money and blame Amar Singh for the fiasco. I have learned practical lesson in life, and I will be dealing with them accordingly. I have learned from the famous Abrahim Lincons quote, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Akhilesh Yadav, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Ambani, Subrora Roy etc are no exceptions. All these characters were the beneficiary of my help during their crisis time, they flourished and prospered riding on my back, and the same characterless people evaded me during my crisis time. I am happy being a small man and let big people like Anil Ambani face the business collapse with crores of debt. Akhilesh has shown his character by deceiving his living father who incidentally is the founder of the party that he is heading today. He is thrown out of power in UP in the recent assembly elections and Akhilesh have no hope in the near future.

Q Your parliamentary track record is phenomenal, the issue raised by you have national impact namely on the farmer, agriculture, defence and industries etc. There are few MP’s who understand synergy of politics and business better than you. Do you think this is the reason why Industry loves you?

  1. Yes I agree that my track record of being associated with big business houses prior to entering politics is unique. I have worked with Birla’s and Bhartia’s for many years including being the directorship of Hindustan Times. In my golden days, even Reliance and Sahara was beneficiary of my business acumen. Several middle time business groups have made fortunes by associating with me. Surely I have gained experience in the corporate environment that has proved a great value in my parliamentary life.

Q You have matured in a seasoned political mode after three decades of national politics, surely you are a success story in parliament yet people call you “power broker”, “dalal” and “fixer”, why?

  1. I feel privileged that frustrated people who are jealous of my political progress do make similar comments. I am from humble background so people in Lutyens Delhi can’t digest my accession to power. There is an elite club that exists in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Omar Abdullha, Tejeswani Yadav, Stalin, Jagan Reddy may indulge in much worse corrupt practices in politics but just because they are from the political background, nobody questions their lifestyle, ideology, political integrity. It is only after Chaiwala has become Neta No1 in India, the adjectives are shifted to people who have looted India by promoting dynasties. People with no competence are allowed to occupy high chair are the real power brokers and dalals. So I have left it to the people of this country to identify and shame the real “power brokers”, “dalals” in the Indian politics.

Q How do you rate Narendra Modi four years of rule in Delhi? And how Yogi has performed in UP in the last one year?

  1. Excellent. The pro poor scheme launched by PM Modi has touched the last mile in the country. Opening up of 30 crore bank accounts, DBT transfer to bank accounts, free gas cylinder distribution, electricity to all, affordable housing to all are the various schemes. The foreign policy of the Modi government has isolated Pakistan globally. We have become a dependable friend of USA and Israel. The Middle East countries have started cooperating directly with us instead of favouring Pakistan. Look East policy has yielded results and Japan and South Korea are now our dependable allies. On the home front, the naxal problem and internal security remained under control. The corruption in India at the high level has gone down drastically. In UP, Yogi Government has done a great work on law and order front. UP has struggled in the Mandal and Kamandal politics since three decades so Yogi government has a challenge to overcome the psyche of the people and make the development agenda the priority so that 22 crore people of UP can taste the benefit of development as rest of India has witnessed in the past. Amar Singh made it amply clear that he liked the leadership of PM Modi and now his entire life was dedicated to him.

Q You were the architect of Mahagatbandhan in 1996 when Devegowda was made the PM, what difference do you feel that prevails in India today when entire opposition is united against Narendra Modi?

  1. Simple, 1996 opposition unity was success because there was no clear face of governance wherein in 2019; Narendra Modi is a decisive clear leader challenging the entire opposition. The track record of Modi since 2014 and the corruption free governance is likely to be the key for the imminent success of Modi and definite failure of Mahagatbandhan. Nobody in India knows the insight of the then coalition and its weakness better than me. I have worked closely with SP, TMC, RLD, JD(U), TDP leadership and I know the ambitions all the regional players, surely none of them have a national footprint and sheer dream of placing any regional leader as the PM will be a certain flop show. Making it amply clear that I like the leadership of PM Modi and now my entire life will be dedicated to him. And I will aggressively campaign against the “bua-babua jodi” (Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav) emerging in UP ahead of the LS elections. “I am an independent MP and still four years of my tenure are left. I will prefer to do aggressive campaigns for PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath as I don’t approve of buababua jodi.”

Q You are a politically obsessed person going ahead, how do you see your role in the coming months specially when all important national elections are due in 2019 and 80 parliamentary seats of UP is likely to decide the next PM of the country?

  1. Narendra Modi pro poor clean image will overpower everyone in the next general elections in India and UP. I have no doubt that Modi’s national stature with Amit Shah driven BJP organizational strength, Yogi’s hard work will overpower opponent. Additionally, RSS will be very proactive under Sarkaryavah Dattaji Hosabale, sitting and functioning from Lucknow as his main functioning centre. And when you look at the probable opponents than a miserable picture emerges in mind. The SP is broken in several small family groups and BSP is just a caste specific party with a limited appeal now. Congress is left with no clear ideology and assertive leadership and aging long queue of regional leaders namely Devegowda, Sharad Pawar, OP Chauthala, Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav are on the wrong side of the life so to throw a serious challenge on Narendra Modi will be virtually impossible for them in the coming general elections. People have a clear choice of opting for a nationalist honest leader verses corrupt family ridden politics of discredited leaders.

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