Amar Singh co-rebels accuse him of betrayal

Four former Samajwadi Party (SP) legislators who deserted the party with Amar Singh have now turned against him.

The MLAs — Sarvesh Singh (from Sagari- Azamgarh), Ashok Singh Chandel (Hamirpur), Sandeep Agrawal (Moradabad) and Madan Chauhan (Garhmukteshwar- Ghaziabad) — were removed from the SP when they joined hands with Amar.

But now Chauhan is in touch with Ajit Singh and wants to join his Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) while the others are knocking on the doors of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Sources said Chandel has already met some BSP leaders, including PWD minister Nasimuddin Siddiqui, mining minister Babusingh Kushwaha and panchayati raj minister Swami Prasad Maurya.

“Mayawati has agreed to induct them in her party. But she is waiting for an opportune time so that she can hit back at us,” an SP Parliamentarian. “ Some senior Congress leaders are also in touch with three of the MLAs,” he added.

The MLAs are openly accusing Amar of betraying them. “ We were wrong when we thought that he would present a strong pro- development alternative in UP. But he preferred to promote his friends, Jaya Prada and Sanjay Dutt,” Agrawal said. He added that he, along with two other MLAs, would join some party other than the SP. He also accused Amar of being “ anti- political”, “ anti-development” and “ petty”.