Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, 64, has died after battling an illness. Earlier this year, diagnosed with a kidney ailment, Singh was admitted to a hospital in Singapore in March.
Amar Singh was first elected to Rajya Sabha in 1996.
Amar Singh was a key leader in the Samajwadi Party at a time when the party moved to support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2008, after the Communist Party of India withdrew from the government over a nuclear deal with the US.
Singh, during his association with of 14 years from 1996 to 2010 with Samajwadi Party, networked extensively for the growth of the party.
Amar Singh was expelled from the Samajwadi Party in February 2010 for working against the beliefs of the party. In 2011, Singh floated his own political party called Rashtriya Lok Manch and fielded over 300 candidates in the 2012 UP polls but all his candidates were defeated.
Six years after his expulsion, Amar Singh was nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in May 2016 as an independent member but with support from the Samajwadi Party.
Amar Singh, who was considered as a loyalist to Mulayam Singh Yadav, was expelled for the second time from the party in 2017.
Many leaders have expressed their condolences. “Amar Singh Ji was an energetic public figure. In the last few decades, he witnessed some of the major political developments from close quarters. He was known for his friendships across many spheres of life. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his friends & family. Om Shanti,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Amar Singh Ji was an energetic public figure. In the last few decades, he witnessed some of the major political developments from close quarters. He was known for his friendships across many spheres of life. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his friends & family. Om Shanti.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 1, 2020
President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted,”Sad to hear of the demise of senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Shri Amar Singh. A man of many parts, Singh was an able parliamentarian. Condolences to his family, friends and well-wishers.
“May God give shelter to the soul of Shri Amar Singh ji in his deeds. My sincere condolences to the family of Shri Amar Singh ji. I express my deepest condolences to his bereaved wife and daughters in this sad moment,” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted.
“There is a feeling of sorrow from the news of the demise of senior leader and MP Shri Amar Singh. During public life he had friendship among all the parties… My condolences to his heartbroken family,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
Amar Singh and the Bachchans were once very close at one point but in 2016, their relationship took on strains after Singh publicly spoke against Jaya Bachchan, a Samajwadi Party leader.