Lucknow: Amar Singh, the Samajwadi Party lawmaker with a cameo in the big Yadav feud in Uttar Pradesh, went on an emotional track today when asked about Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav reportedly asking father Mulayam Singh Yadav to dump him to enable a truce.
"Akhilesh was four years old. His education...his private life, we have contributed to it, I am saddened at what he has said about me," Amar Singh said in Lucknow, where a flurry of meetings today suggested desperate attempts at a patch up between the Chief Minister and his estranged father Mulayam Singh.
Amar Singh flew to the UP capital yesterday along with Mulayam Singh. Reports suggested that Akhilesh Yadav, in a peace move, wanted to receive his father at the airport but dropped the idea when he learnt that Amar Singh - whom he jokingly refers to as "Shakuni Mama" after the crafty uncle in the epic Mahabharata - was with him.
"I have not come to Lucknow to create an obstruction - I want Mulayam Singh to be respected and Akhilesh to be successful," Mr Singh said, blaming Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav for the massive feud that has ranged Akhilesh Yadav against his father and his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
"One gets hurt by one's own and not by outsiders. It's difficult to fight one's own people," Mr Singh said.
"Akhilesh is opposing that same leader in whose house he grew up - Shivpal Yadav. Mulayam Singh Yadav never imagined that he would be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. These happen in life..."
He added that he "wished him well".
Mr Singh, 60, a controversial politician known for his connections in the business, media and film world, returned to the Samajwadi Party in May, six years after he was expelled.
It is believed by many in the party that Mr Singh played the lead role in turning Mulayam Singh against his son.
