UP assembly election 2017: Amar Singh ki amar kahani in UP politics

The Mulayam Singh Yadav loyalist made his comeback in the Samajwadi Party in 2016, amid large-scale opposition by Akhilesh Yadav and his supporters.

Lucknow, Jan 9: The businessman-turned-politician Amar Singh hobnobs with equal elan with both the political and filmi families. The controversial politician, who is known for his statements, rather than his work, is Indian politics famous 'fixer'.

As he has recently returned to politics after a brief hiatus, Singh is once again hogging the limelight for causing rift between Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav.

Know more about him...

Birth and education: The 60-year-old Samajwadi Party leader was born on January 27, 1956, in a Rajput family in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Singh got his law degree from St Xavier's College, Kolkata.

Political and film career: The SP leader first made his dent in the national politics after he played a crucial role in helping the UPA-I government to remain in power in 2008, after the Communist Party of India withdrew its support over the proposed Nuclear Accord with the United States. It is said, Singh convinced SP supremo Mulayam to support the then Union Government.

In 2010, Singh resigned as the general secretary of the SP. In the same year, he and his close-aide Jaya Prada were expelled from the SP.

Afterwards, he floated his own party, Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011. Singh's party failed to win a single seat in the UP assembly elections 2012. Later, he joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal party in March 2014. In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha polls from Fatehpur Sikri, UP. But he lost.

However, the 'political survivor' made his comeback in the SP in 2016, after the ruling party of UP decided to renominate him to the Rajya Sabha.

Not many know, Singh, who had earlier shared a close-relationship with the family of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has great interest in films. In fact, he had played a small role in the film, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. He will be next seen playing the role of a politician in the upcoming Bollywood flick, JD.

Controversies: Like many other Indian politicians, Singh's list of controversies is also a long one. The 60-year-old politician was chargesheeted for offering bribes to three Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament in 2008, under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2011.

He spent a brief period in judicial custody in 2011. In 2011, Singh again courted controversy when his name figured in a taped conversation with Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu.

OneIndia News