Lucknow:
Barely two weeks after they appeared together at a public function in Lucknow, Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav met again today, signaling the recycling of a major political alliance.
Till 2010, Mr Singh, 58, was Mr Yadav's right-hand man in the Samajwadi Party. Then he was expelled, along with actor-politician Jaya Prada, for "working against the party". At the time, Mr Yadav and his former lieutenant showed a disinclination for treating the termination with discretion.
Time appears to have healed some wounds. Mr Singh today said he is not trying to conceal a political rapprochement - mainly because there isn't one. "I have not committed any theft," he said, establishing that the meeting was not a clandestine one. "These are family relations... not political or practical ones," he said.
Mr Yadav, 74, is the chief of the Samajwadi Party, which governs Uttar Pradesh. His young son, Akhilesh, is the Chief Minister.
Mr Singh's term as a Rajya Sabha member expires this year. He formed his own party after his expulsion, but it was a non-starter, performing abysmally in the state elections of 2012.
Amar Singh had contested the recent Lok Sabha polls on a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket from Fatehpur Sikri seat in Uttar Pradesh but lost.