Amar Singh Gets Big Samajwadi Party Post In More Pain For Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Mulayam Singh Yadav has appointed Amar Singh as national general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, delivering another stinging blow to his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The Samajwadi Party chief made the big appointment in a hand-written note on his letterhead, putting Amar Singh at par with his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, the uncle who backed Akhilesh in a big feud in the party's first family last week.

As national general secretary, Amar Singh, who was expelled from the party for six years and returned only recently, will play a prominent role for the Samajwadi Party in crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh early next year.

It is seen as the latest signal from father to son on who calls the shots.

Amar Singh was a major bone of contention as Akhilesh Yadav took on his uncle and Mulayam's favourite younger brother Shivpal Yadav in a public free-for-all.

He had last week divested Shivpal Yadav of key ministries in his cabinet and blamed "outsiders" for causing trouble in the family, in a reference to Amar Singh. Mr Singh is seen as backing Shivpal Yadav, though he has asserted that Akhilesh Yadav is "like my son".

On the weekend, Mulayam Singh negotiated a truce that saw Shivpal reinstated in most of the ministries he had lost. He also got to keep the position of the Samajwadi Party's UP chief in place of Akhilesh.

Akhilesh Yadav, 44, has emerged worse for wear from the battle with his uncle, though his father has handed him a deciding role in the selection of party candidates for the UP elections.

On Monday, as new party chief in UP, Shivpal Yadav expelled seven party functionaries, including three lawmakers, all considered close to Akhilesh Yadav, accusing them of making "derogatory remarks" against Mulayam Singh.