Looking for 'graceful' opportunity to join another party, says Amar Singh

New Delhi: Amar Singh, who was expelled from the Samajwadi Party in January, on Friday said he is looking for a "graceful opportunity" to join another party.

"I am available, waiting for a graceful opportunity. If it comes, I will be more than happy to give it a thought...," he said.

He was responding to a poser on his future plans after the Samajwadi Party expelled him.

The Rajya Sabha secretariat has since declared him as a member without any party affiliation.

Asked to elaborate what he meant by "graceful opportunity", Singh said it would not be a "hurried decision" and he would take a call keeping in mind his past experiences.

He told PTI in an interview that since he has been expelled twice by the Samajwadi Party, he would not return to it in future.

Since he does not plan to rejoin the SP, would he resign from the Rajya Sabha seat as he was elected from a Samajwadi Party ticket?

"Why should I resign. I was given the ticket by Mulayam Singh Yadav when he was the party president. Had Mulayam Singhji as party president asked me to resign, I would have happily done that," Singh said making it clear that he would continue his stint as Rajya Sabha member.

Singh, who had defied the Samajwadi Party by defending demonetisation, said he has not talked to anyone in the BJP on the issue of joining that party.

To a question on whether he could be heading the Congress way, Singh was critical of the role the party played during the cash-for-vote scam case in which he had spent time in Tihar jail.

"I have no bitterness against the Gandhis, but I cannot forget the torture I went through in Tihar where I was made to drink water from a plastic bucket and mug," he said.

The one-time close confidante of Mulayam, Singh has of late been critical of the role the SP patron played during the family feud of the Yadavs.

"It was a programmed drama in which all of us were given a role. I subsequently realised that we are being used... I came to realise it was a ploy to distract from the anti-incumbency, law and order situation," he had said.

"Mulayam loves being defeated at the hands of his son. Cycle (SP's election symbol), son, and SP are his weaknesses.

Even at polling day, the entire family went (to vote) together. So why all the drama?" Amar asked.

The Samajwadi Party went through a bitter power struggle between Mulayam and Akhilesh, with the latter taking the fight to the Election Commission and, ultimately, winning the battle and the party symbol.

Amar has been blamed by a section of the party leadership for creating fissures between Mulayam and Akhilesh.