Conspiracy to break SP has failed, says Amar Singh

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Saturday hailed party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's decision to revoke expulsion of his son and Uttar Pradesh Chie Minister Akhilesh Yadav and brother and General Secretary Ram Gopal as the right thing and said the conspiracy to break the party and the family has "failed".

"Mulayam Singhji has done the right thing. He has given a message through his decision that he will not let either the Samajwadi Party or his family break till he is alive. The conspiracy of the people who wanted the party and the family to break has failed," he said.

Singh also clarified that he does not want to break the party.

Congratulating Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and SP General Secretary Ramgopal Yadav, he said, "Those who had this misconception that I will try to break the party, I would like to tell them that I am not here to break the party. Instead I want to keep it united."

"If somebody is still hurt due to me, I want to tell that I am ready to sacrifice myself to ensure unity in SP pariwar and the workers," he said.

"We have to fight the communal forces and ensure that secular front is victorious in the upcoming elections," Singh added.

Earlier in the day, when Singh was asked about the crisis in the party after Mulayam expelled Akhilesh and Ram Gopal for six years after they put up candidates against the official nominees and summoned a party meet on Sunday.

Amar had said, "The foundation of this party was laid by Mulayam Singh with much dedication and hard work. I have said this earlier and will say it now, that Mulayam Singh is the chief of SP and the father of Akhilesh Yadav as well," he said.

Mulayam had on Friday said he had taken the action against Akhilesh and Ram Gopal to save the party which he had built through hard efforts.

"We have to save the party. The party comes first. That is why we are expelling both Akhilesh and Ram Gopal," he had said.

He explained that the decision was taken after Ram Gopal, in his capacity as general secretary, called an emergency meeting of the party on January 1 and Akhilesh "supported" it.

Ram Gopal called the meeting after a showcause notice was issued to him and Akhilesh by Mulayam for releasing a list of candidates, parallel to the one issued officially by Mulayam.