Why Mulayam brought Amar Singh back into Samajwadi Party

His political obituary has been written many times in the past.

He was shunned and deserted by the very people he had helped in their worst times. His political opponents had given him up for dead when he was expelled from the Samajwadi Party six years ago. But much like the proverbial phoenix, Amar Singh has risen from the dust.

He is back in the party and as the general secretary to boot.

Most of the big guns in his party ranging from chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to Ram Gopal Yadav, and the mercurial Azam Khan, have been baying for his blood. Rather than oblige his opponents, Mulayam Singh Yadav backed him wholeheartedly and put him on par with Ram Gopal Yadav, the party general secretary.

As far as the SP chief is concerned, not just is he standing by a loyal friend, Mulayam Singh Yadav realises more than anyone else that Amar Singh brings to the table things that none of the other leaders in his party are capable of.

He is extremely astute politically, has a solid network of contacts, is an excellent political manager and knows how to get his decisions implemented in a remarkably swift and effective manner.

In the years that he was out of the SP, the party's profile dipped drastically at the national level, and the SP chief was no longer the political player that he used to be when Amar Singh was in the party.

Amar Singh has stood by Mulayam Singh Yadav at a time when even his own family members were not around, whether it's the case of tending to the ailing SP chief when he passed out at a function a few months ago, or arranging for the best possible treatment for the ailing supremo.

He was the first to fly down to Lucknow in April after the SP chief suddenly fell ill. "He has been more than a friend to me, he has been there for me in all my bad times", says the SP chief.

Mulayam Singh dada has confided to his friends that he has not forgotten how Amar Singh not only arranged for Akhilesh Yadav to be educated in Australia, but also gave him his first job in his company after the latter's return to the country.

He also remembers his role in helping put the SP at the centrestage of political developments at the national level by getting former president APJ Abdul Kalam to endorse its decision to help the UPA-1 on the nuclear deal.

"His ability to strategise and his ability to get things done is unmatched in my party", says Mulayam Singh Yadav.

It's no secret that the SP chief has once again begun to bank heavily on Amar Singh on matters political and personal.

Mulayam Singh Yadav recently told a senior leader who called on him, that in a crisis if he were allowed only one call, it would be to Amar Singh.

Evidently the Thakur from Azamgarh is back as Mulayam's confidant.

Also read: Mulayam cannot afford to take Akhilesh Yadav for granted anymore