UP Inc misses Amar Singh

Amar Singh may have dropped off the political scene unsung but at least some people in Uttar Pradesh wish he were back: the state's business community. Business stalwarts in Lucknow are deeply disappointed with the self-proclaimed techno-savvy Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that none of the pre-poll promises made to industry has materialised. Nor is the chief minister easily accessible. A Lucknow-based industrialist and office bearer of a prominent industry body compared the current Samajwadi Party with the previous one headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. He said, Amar Singh, then party general secretary, acted as the interface between industry and the erstwhile regime so that industry's voice was "heard at the highest level".