|
Lucknow: Notwithstanding his standing as a "kingmaker", Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh must take the blame for a string of recent desertions from the party, according to some of the disgruntled MPs.
Denying that they had been offered inducements to switch loyalties to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the lawmakers from Uttar Pradesh alleged that they had been forced to take the "extreme step" because of Amar Singh's overbearing attitude.
Dominating figure
"Amar Singh has been calling the shots in the party, and sadly Mulayam Singh [the party chief] has allowed himself to be dominated and overshadowed by him. I have tolerated Amar Singh for too long but I am not prepared to do it any longer," said Jai Prakash Rawat, a middle-aged Lok Sabha MP from Mohanlalganj on the outskirts of Lucknow.
"Mulayam Singh was my leader, and since he has ceased to remain one, I would be happier under another banner," Rawat said.
"It is quite apparent that Mulayam has lost control over the party; so what is the point staying in a party where a grassroots man like me has to take directions from someone who does not know the ABC of grassroots politics? Yet he has been given the reins of the party?
Swearing by principles
"If money were any consideration for me, then there could not have been a bigger bait than what came from the Amar Singh camp... I am not among those who believe or play the politics of money; for me principles are supreme."
Amar Singh has been playing a leading role in New Delhi trying to bail out the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which lost its majority in the Lok Sabha after the Left parties took back their support over the contentious nuclear deal with the United States.
Speaking by phone, S.B. Singh Baghel, the Samajwadi Party MP from Jalesar in Etah district, also complained that it was the domineering Amar Singh who had triggered his exit from the party.
"Where is the room for a dedicated and committed party worker in a set-up which has been virtually handed over to someone who is bothered only about himself?
"I fail to understand why Mulayam Singh has started thinking that he owes Amar Singh. In fact it should be the other way round," Baghel pointed out.
"Amar Singh may not be able to win even a municipal election, yet Mulayam has given him the discretionary authority to run the entire Samajwadi Party."
Meanwhile, jailed Samajwadi Party MP and alleged mafia don Atiq Ahmad was reported to have voiced his displeasure with the manner in which Amar Singh's writ was allowed to prevail over the party.
Feeling marginalised
Earlier, two prominent Samajwadi Party MPs - Beni Prasad Verma and Raj Babbar - had bid goodbye to the party essentially because they felt marginalised on account of Amar Singh's increasing influence over the party.
The duo's ire against Amar Singh continues even as they are all set to abide by the party whip and vote with the Samajwadi Party during the trust vote today.
"I am going in support of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)," Raj Babbar said while parrying pointed queries as to whether he was with the Samajwadi Party. As for Verma, who was seen as only second to Mulayam Singh in the party hierarchy, he remains opposed to Amar Singh.
|
