After prolonged political exile, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh is back in business.
After prolonged political exile, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh is back in business. The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday announced the names of seven candidates, including that of Mr Amar Singh, for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for next month.
The SP central parliamentary board said at a meeting in Lucknow that besides Mr Amar Singh, the other nominees are Mr Beni Prasad Verma, Mr Sanjay Seth, Mr Sukhram Yadav, Mr Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Mr Arvind Singh and Mr Rewati Raman Singh.
Incidentally, Mr Beni Verma returned to the SP from the Congress less than a week ago and Mr Amar Singh’s six-year expulsion from the party ended in January this year. Mr Verma, along with Mr Raj Babbar, had quit the SP to join the Congress on the eve of the 2009 Lok Sabha election.
Announcing this at a press conference in Lucknow, senior party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav said the central parliamentary board of the party, which met here Tuesday morning, had authorised party president Mulayam Singh Yadav to take the final decision on the names. Mr Sanjay Seth is a controversial builder from Lucknow whose name had been rejected by the UP governor when the party had included it for nomination to the UP Legislative Council.
According to party sources, Mr Amar Singh’s candidature was strongly opposed by Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and Mohammed Azam Khan, but the two leaders later left the decision to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. Incidentally, Mr Azam Khan’s entry into the SP had coincided with the expulsion of Mr Amar Singh.
Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav, however, denied there was any opposition to any name and said the entire parliamentary board supported the party president’s decision.
