Mulayam appoints Amar Singh SP general secretary

In a major decision that is set to further add to the ongoing turmoil in the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav appointed Amar Singh as the national general secretary.

The appointment comes days after a bitter power struggle in the ruling party of the state, during which many including General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had made Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh the villain of the piece, holding him responsible for triggering the fight in the party.

Described by both these leaders as an "outsider" who was "fishing in troubled waters", Amar Singh was made the national general secretary on Tuesday in a handwritten note by Mulayam Singh, in which the party supremo also expressed the hope that he will contribute in the forthcoming state assembly polls, scheduled for early 2017.

Only late last week, Akhilesh Yadav had told reporters that he will now never call Amar Singh his uncle, which he did so far. While no reaction has come from the chief minister, it is to be seen how the development unfolds.

State president and Irrigation Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav is favourably disposed towards Amar Singh and has trashed accusations that he was working to harm the family and the party.

--IANS

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