Mulayam accepts Amar Singh's resignation

Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday accepted the resignation of his close associate Amar Singh from all party posts including that of general secretary and the parliamentary board.

SP sources said Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was in Etawah on Sunday, accepted Singh's resignation after his efforts to placate the latter did not bear fruit.

Amar Singh had resigned on January 6 from the post of SP general secretary, national spokesperson and member of parliamentary board citing poor health. He had undergone a kidney transplant operation in Singapore last year.

However, the real reason for Singh's resignation is said to be his differences with another senior SP leader and Mulayam Singh's cousin Ram Gopal Yadav.

After Singh sent his resignation from Dubai, a bitter war of words began between him and Ram Gopal.

While Amar Singh remained adamant on his resignation, Ram Gopal said the former had lost his mental balance. The SP chief had maintained that he would convince Singh to take back his resignation, but failed to sway him.

Ram Gopal has held Singh responsible for SP's association with former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh, which, he felt led to the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and the Ferozabad by-election.

SP leaders including Jaya Prada, Jaya Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt had threatened to quit their party posts in the wake of Singh's resignation.

"On January 6, you resigned from all posts of the SP, which I sadly accept," Mulayam Singh Yadav said in his letter to Amar Singh.

In the two-paragraph letter, Yadav also expressed gratitude to the former SP general secretary for strengthening the party.

Image: A file picture of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (left) and Amar Singh