So Mulayam Singh has finally accepted Amar Singh's resignation. Many questions have been raised and a few unanswered. Was Amar Singh's resignation pre planned or it came like a bolt from the blue. Such major things do not happen just like that, and this was just waiting to happen. Ever since Kalyan Singh joined hands with the SP to all the way in Firozabad byelection where Dimple lost creating a very embarrassing situation for Akhilesh Yadav. It was pretty clear that the SP had just been given a rude wake up call and the party was headed for a major shake up.
So what went wrong in a relationship that had stood the test of time. Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh were inseparable, but blood is thicker than water. The frustration of Mulayam's family over Amar Singh had been building since 2007. But things only got worse after the 2009 Lok Sabha election. SP losing out any kind of bargaining power in the Centre, while its main opposition party the BSP was ruling roost in UP.
People blame Amar Singh for bringing in Dimple and infighting that led to SP losing the prestigious Firozabad seat. But didnt the very same people realise that they were anyways heading for disaster by making Akhilesh contest from two seats of Kannauj and Firozabad. Akhilesh would have won both seats which he did, but the big question is that who would they give the ticket to when Akhilesh would vacate a seat. The SP leadership tried to take the easier way out by postponing a tough decision, hoping that things would sort themselves out on their own. The result was disastrous, the SP had to fight the Firozabad byelection with the BSP at the helm in the state. If they had given the ticket to someone else during the Lok Sabha elections, they would still have been better off as the political situation would have been much more neutral that it is in a byelection where the ruling party in the state normally has the upper hand.
Why blame Amar Singh when atleast three former MLA's of the SP from the area were instrumental in ensuring that people once again had to relive the days of SP's goondaraj during the Firozabad byelection. Apart from their image, what happened to all the money that Amar Singh had sent for the election while he was recuperating in Singapore. Can the SP wrong or even question Amar Singh's integrity in any way for his role in the byelection ?
Now to the moot question, yes its true that Amar Singh did influence the SP to such an extent that when Mulayam was taking oath in 2003 as Chief Minister of UP, people were witnessing a different Samajwad or Socialism than the one they were used to. Sahara's entire fleet had the likes of the Bachchans, Ambanis and the Nandas driving to the ceremony. The Uttar Pradesh Development Corporation and the Dadri Power Project were brain child of Amar Singh. Sadly both were non starters, Dadri is nowhere near starting while UPDC was scrapped by the BSP regime.
Kalyan Singh was perhaps Amar Singh's biggest blunder, but he did have some correct arithmetic to it. Knowing fully well that the BJP was finished and the Muslim vote was no longer as loyal to the SP. he did try to get the OBC Rajput formula going for the SP. But with muslims voting enmasse for the Congress, Amar Singh had to bear the brunt of it. So the old guard within the SP got together and started a campaign for the party to get back to its Socialist leanings that had made it a darling with the masses. Which in operational terms meant, get rid of Amar Singh.
Ram Gopal Yadav is just the face of that campaign, and Amar Singh realised the futility of his continuing with a party where he is doing all he can and is yet criticised for not doing enough. So will Amar Singh join the Congress. No, as there are few takers for him in the Congress. The best bet is for him to be on his own, and it may not take very long for Amar Singh to float his own outfit. He has the money and supporters to contest atleast 60 seats in the UP assembly election in 2012, and can even get 20 candidates elected. He could be the Raj Thackeray of the SP in the next election and anyone who stakes claim to the next Govt in UP will need his support. Amar Singh can easily tie up with NCP, Left and other regional parties and get a national status like Shankar Sinh Vaghela had after he brought down the BJP Govt in Gujarat in the 1990's. Vaghela's RJP fared badly in the next election and he or Bapu as he is fondly called was referred to as a leader without a party. But Amar Singh could do it differently, as all eyes are once again on him, as the Rajput from Azamgarh could be the king maker in UP in 2012.
So what went wrong in a relationship that had stood the test of time. Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh were inseparable, but blood is thicker than water. The frustration of Mulayam's family over Amar Singh had been building since 2007. But things only got worse after the 2009 Lok Sabha election. SP losing out any kind of bargaining power in the Centre, while its main opposition party the BSP was ruling roost in UP.
People blame Amar Singh for bringing in Dimple and infighting that led to SP losing the prestigious Firozabad seat. But didnt the very same people realise that they were anyways heading for disaster by making Akhilesh contest from two seats of Kannauj and Firozabad. Akhilesh would have won both seats which he did, but the big question is that who would they give the ticket to when Akhilesh would vacate a seat. The SP leadership tried to take the easier way out by postponing a tough decision, hoping that things would sort themselves out on their own. The result was disastrous, the SP had to fight the Firozabad byelection with the BSP at the helm in the state. If they had given the ticket to someone else during the Lok Sabha elections, they would still have been better off as the political situation would have been much more neutral that it is in a byelection where the ruling party in the state normally has the upper hand.
Why blame Amar Singh when atleast three former MLA's of the SP from the area were instrumental in ensuring that people once again had to relive the days of SP's goondaraj during the Firozabad byelection. Apart from their image, what happened to all the money that Amar Singh had sent for the election while he was recuperating in Singapore. Can the SP wrong or even question Amar Singh's integrity in any way for his role in the byelection ?
Now to the moot question, yes its true that Amar Singh did influence the SP to such an extent that when Mulayam was taking oath in 2003 as Chief Minister of UP, people were witnessing a different Samajwad or Socialism than the one they were used to. Sahara's entire fleet had the likes of the Bachchans, Ambanis and the Nandas driving to the ceremony. The Uttar Pradesh Development Corporation and the Dadri Power Project were brain child of Amar Singh. Sadly both were non starters, Dadri is nowhere near starting while UPDC was scrapped by the BSP regime.
Kalyan Singh was perhaps Amar Singh's biggest blunder, but he did have some correct arithmetic to it. Knowing fully well that the BJP was finished and the Muslim vote was no longer as loyal to the SP. he did try to get the OBC Rajput formula going for the SP. But with muslims voting enmasse for the Congress, Amar Singh had to bear the brunt of it. So the old guard within the SP got together and started a campaign for the party to get back to its Socialist leanings that had made it a darling with the masses. Which in operational terms meant, get rid of Amar Singh.
Ram Gopal Yadav is just the face of that campaign, and Amar Singh realised the futility of his continuing with a party where he is doing all he can and is yet criticised for not doing enough. So will Amar Singh join the Congress. No, as there are few takers for him in the Congress. The best bet is for him to be on his own, and it may not take very long for Amar Singh to float his own outfit. He has the money and supporters to contest atleast 60 seats in the UP assembly election in 2012, and can even get 20 candidates elected. He could be the Raj Thackeray of the SP in the next election and anyone who stakes claim to the next Govt in UP will need his support. Amar Singh can easily tie up with NCP, Left and other regional parties and get a national status like Shankar Sinh Vaghela had after he brought down the BJP Govt in Gujarat in the 1990's. Vaghela's RJP fared badly in the next election and he or Bapu as he is fondly called was referred to as a leader without a party. But Amar Singh could do it differently, as all eyes are once again on him, as the Rajput from Azamgarh could be the king maker in UP in 2012.
