SP's top brass to decide on Congress alliance: Amar Singh

Amar Singh met Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel in New Delhi

Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh on Saturday said the decision on an electoral understanding between his party and the Congress for the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be decided by the party top brass.

"I am a small party worker; such decisions are taken by senior leaders like party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav," Amar Singh said after a meeting with SP's state unit chief Shivpal Singh Yadav.

Amar Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, is a member of the party's Parliamentary Board.

As for his meeting with Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel in Delhi, Singh said no politics should be read into the meeting since the event was held to commemorate late prime minister Chowdhary Charan Singh and he attended it on Mulayam's instructions.

Regarding Akhilesh's claim that an alliance with the Congress will lead to 300 plus seats in UP polls, Amar Singh said he did not wish to comment. However, he said, leaders should desist from making comments they might have to withdraw later.

Regarding his meeting with Shivpal, the SP General Secretary said there was nothing unusual in it. "Am I meeting Mayawati? Why this buzz?" he asked.

It is for the first time in many months that Amar Singh has visited state capital Lucknow. He was caught in the crossfire between the Mulayam-Shivpal combine and Akhilesh Yadav starting September 2016.