Kolkata/Lucknow: As the feud in the Samajwadi Party degenerated into mudslinging, senior party leader Amar Singh on Monday said sometimes silence was the best strategic answer to all questions and allegations brought against him.
Giving his “best wishes” to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Singh, once a right hand man of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, said, “I will not comment on the matter. For me, at times silence is the best strategic answer to all questions and allegations raised against me”. Later at another function, Singh thanked SP supremo and UP Samajwadi Party president Shivpal Yadav for standing beside him.
Earlier in the day, the bitter power struggle in SP’s first family played out on stage at a meeting called by its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav of party legislators, MPs and other leaders where Akhilesh, blowing hot and cold, first offered to step down in a choked voice but later accused Amar Singh and those close to him of hatching a “conspiracy” against him and his father.
Acrimonious scenes were witnessed at the meeting of the Samajwadi Party where Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav exchanged heated words, with the party supremo making clear his support for Amar Singh, describing him as his “brother” and Shivpal Yadav as “mass leader”.
The SP supremo said the party was facing a difficult situation and party members should not fight with each other but his words had little effect as chaos broke out at the venue and heated words were exchanged on the dais leading to an abrupt end of the meeting.
Fresh clashes broke out outside the venue with supporters of rival sides exchanging blows, giving police a tough time. At a meeting of party legislators, MPs and ministers, which ended abruptly, Mulayam said, “I can not tolerate anything against Amar and Shivpal. Amar saved me from going to jail”.
Mulayam said mere donning of red cap (colour of SP's cap) does not make one Samajwadi. Admonishing Akhilesh, the party supremo said he had been abusing Amar Singh.
“Amar has helped me a lot. If Amar was not there I would have been in jail, he is like my brother,” Mulayam said, describing the Rajya Sabha member as his brother. “Some ministers are just sycophants,” he added. “I cannot forget the work done by Shivpal Yadav,” he said while describing Shivpal as a mass leader.
Mulayam said he had to struggle hard to give his Samajwadi Party a shape. He said he followed the ideals of Ram Manohar Lohia and fought for the poor and the farmers. He said he was sad over the current developments in the party “though I kept myself aloof from what was happening”.
He said some leaders indulged in sycophancy and “I do not like such sycophants”. Referring to those criticising the party, he said those who cannot tolerate criticism, cannot become leaders. He also defended merger of QED with SP and described Ansari’s family as “respectable”. Monday was the birthday of Akhilesh, who touched the feet of his father and uncle Shivpal to seek their blessings.
