New Delhi:
NDTV: Our special guest this week on Your Call is a politician we all know- you can love him, hate him, but definitely can't ignore him - Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh.
The country saw violent scenes in the Parliament following the tabling of the Liberhan Report. Jai Shri Ram Vs Ya Ali- Don't you think sloganeering of this kind lowers the dignity of the Parliament, and the House?
Amar Singh: Absolutely. I fully agree with you, and that is precisely the reason why I got irritated. I am apologetic and regretful about the whole incident.
NDTV: Some web questions for you;
Prasad from Mumbai writes; Why were you and Ahluwalia banned for four years?
Manisha Raval from Dubai asks; Is it necessary to bash Hindus to prove oneself secular in India?
Amar Singh: Prasad, my misconduct is of a heinous nature and I must be banned for four years. I will welcome the decision, very humbly. The difference between Raj Thackeray and me is that Raj Thackeray didn't apologise and on the contrary, he said he will do it again.
I have said that at the spur of a moment- I lost my cool and I regret my act.
To answer the second question- I am devoted Hindu and a hardcore Hindu. I do perform Puja every day and read the Hanuman Chalisa. But that is my personal faith and I don't trade them for politics. That's precisely my point of view-Parliament is not a mutt of mosque, it's the temple of democracy where all ideologies, all kinds of diversities come together to pursue people politics. I am not justifying what happened-- it was very unfortunate and sad, and I immediately expressed my regret. In my career of 14 years, in Indian Parliament, I have never ever done that.
NDTV: But Amar Singh, analysts say that both the BJP and Samajwadi party were aiming at the their own particular vote bank, and particularly for the Samajwadi Party, where you were friends with Kalyan Singh who is named as the architect of the demolition of Babri Masjid. The Liberhan Report is aimed at your Muslim vote bank.
NDTV: Within the Samajwadi Party, voices have said that you were the one responsible for bringing in Kalyan Singh, not formally, but with an alliance with your party. And that has damaged your party. That's why the party performed badly in Ferozabad and the recent by- elections.
Amar Singh: A person who is prominently seen and is visible takes the flak. But I will be very blunt- all the decisions are taken by Mulayam Singh. He gives me the measurements and I prepare everything according to his design. I don't have a role, I think the party has refused to change its spectrum and mode. They are not trying to be progressive like other parties. You have to keep re-inventing yourself.
NDTV: Many people, like Raj Babbar and Azam Khan say that it is Amar Singh who calls the shots in the Samajwadi Party. They say even Akhilesh Yadav is obsessed with the fact and blames Amar uncle for the wrong move.
Amar Singh: If Akhilesh Yadav says that, I will resign from the party. If he openly makes that charge, I am ready to quit the party, and sit at home.
NDTV: How is your relationship with Akhilesh Yadav?
Amar Singh: Very good. Akhilesh cannot say that and there is no truth in it. The problem is that I am a high profile person, not because of politics, but because of my multidimensional persona. I am an industrialist and have got social connectivity. It makes my persona a different one. I am more communicative, may be more articulate than others in my party. So far, I was keeping quiet but it is becoming too much now. Every journalist and every newspaper keeps talking like this. When I joined the party, it had only 16 MPs- then 20, then 27 and then 39. No one blamed Amar Singh for that. Success has got many fathers, but failure has many bastards. How can I be responsible for the Ferozabad defeat because all the 11 seats of the by-elections were declared without my consent. I was undergoing surgery and was struggling for my life. Five months is a long time and I was absolutely away.
NDTV: You said you are a socialist, but your critics would say that you are a new kind of socialist- not a socialist but a socialite.
Amar Singh: This is absolutely wrong. If Amitabh Bachchan is brought by Congress, Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha are brought by BJP.
But they are not the main faces of the Congress or the BJP. Jaya Bachchan never came to me to become the main face of the Samajwadi party. On the contrary, she remains under a lot of constraint because of her family. She is a very intelligent lady and can do a lot on her own, she has got the potential and the capability. She is one lady who is very punctual and regular in the Parliament and loves to be a serious Parliamentarian.
I am not a Bollywood actor. If you say I have become the face, what do I do? I never asked you to call me on your show. You find me interesting and so have called me. You are reading questions and I am replying. The press for some reason goes for the TRPs. I am not a socialite like Subi Ram Reddy, like Vijay Mallaya. I am not publishing babe calendars, claiming to be the King of good life. So, how can you say that I am a socialite.
NDTV: Would you say that you are a socialist?
Amar Singh: I am not a socialist in that term, but ideologically I have climbed down from the towers. I go to Azamgarh, I go to Balya, Gazipur and other villages. I am among the masses and not sitting tight at my home.
NDTV: That is the one quality of Amar Singh, who has friends across the spectrum and across political parties. You have one such friend turned adversity, Digvijay Singh.
Amar Singh: I don't consider Digvijay Singh as my rival.
NDTV: Even after what happened in Madhya Pradesh?
Amar Singh: I will tell you of a wonderful incident. I was working with him during the time of Madhav Rao Scindia. He said this is the CM's house, you please choose your room and the next time when you come, you will stay with me. The next time when I went there, I stayed with him and he was very warm and hospitable to me. People often misunderstand that Digvijay Singh and me are rivals.
NDTV: Tell us more about your health. It has become like a journey. You had a kidney transplant. People say Amar Singh can find anything--he found a kidney donor! What exactly happened to your health. Could you describe the traumatic months when you fought for life for our audience?
Amar Singh: I used to have stomach pain and for that I went to the Ashok Hospital because the owner is my friend. On the suspicion that my intestine might be cancerous, 70 per cent of my intestine was cut and I was not able to digest anything. Whatever I used to take would get flushed out instantly. Because of my hectic outdoor schedule, I stopped having food, and only in the night I used to take food. I lost around 20 kg. During the elections, I was working under the scorching heat of the sun. I had lost both my kidneys, in the night when I used to sleep, I used to get my dialysis done just so that in the morning I am ready to do campaigning, everyday.
NDTV: But in politics, even your opponents say that Amar Singh can fix kidneys. How do you react to such things?
Amar Singh: I deliberately didn't get my treatment done here. Mrs Sonia Gandhi asked me why I can't get it done in India and I said I have my own reasons. In Singapore the system is very transparent, whether you are a Clinton or Bush, it's a country being run on a system. You have to go through a process. If there is any misdemeanor on your part, immediately you are jailed. So in the future, if anybody says something, the judicious records will be above all. At times, my elder brother Amitabh Bachchan constantly keeps advising me to leave politics. I would also like to take retirement, I want my earned leave. I have done a lot- my children want my time. My twin daughters are 8 now and miss me. It's not your political colleagues but your family that suffers. Other than my wife and kids, only Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek and Aishwarya, Anil and Tina Ambani were with me for 4 months. I have seen the reality and truth of life. In politics, if you are dead and gone.. they will have a nice condolence meeting and then nobody will remember.
NDTV: Who is the hidden Amar Singh and the private one?
Amar Singh: Hidden Amar Singh is absolutely sick and tired of limelight, of focus and attention, who wants to relax, who wants to read a lot of lovely books in his library, who wants to watch a lot of DVDs, who wants to be a part of the growing up years of his daughters. I would have done that and will do that. If the crisis between me and Mulayam is over, then it will be my last day in politics, I will tell him on his face that now you take over and leave me.
NDTV: People say that Amar Singh likes glamour, he likes actors and actresses.
Amar Singh: It's absolutely wrong. I am not hypothetical, everybody in the society likes actors and actresses.
NDTV: For many Indians, actors are virtual gods.
Amar Singh: One day I got a call from Dev Anand and he said Amar Singh I want an appointment with you. I said Dev Sahab you are a senior man, I can't give you an appointment, I will come to you, wherever you are. I went to him and he said I am making a movie called Chargesheet and I want you to play a role in that of a minister. I couldn't say no to him. In Calcutta, there was a movie called Johnny Mera Naam in the theater called Moonlight in the locality where I used to live. There was no DVD, no video and no TV at that point of time. I was in the queue and black marketers used to , announce that it was house-full. I had to wait for four months to see that movie. Now the same person whose movie it was is inviting me to enact a role. So whether the film is a hit or flop, I don't care. This is my sweet revenge.
NDTV: Let's go across to Lucknow where former IITians have a question for you.
Question from Lucknow: Amar Singh is not contesting elections. Was he scared of losing in public? And would he contest elections in the future?
NDTV: That's an interesting test for politicians fighting the Lok Sabha elections.
Amar Singh: The Rampur elections were contested by me and the whole world knows. So I can prove my detractors wrong. Winning Rampur was far more difficult than winning Firozabad.
NDTV: So Rampur was the big victory for Amar Singh. It was your victory..
Amar Singh: I'm sorry if I appear to be bragging here but the whole world knows that nobody, not even the opinion polls of the times predicted that Jaya Prada is going to win. Everybody said she is going to lose.
NDTV: That was really surprising...
Amar Singh: Had there not been medical complications, we would have not lost Ferozabad. We lost Ferozabad because of complacency.. deliberately deploying lesser resources and taking people for granted. This is the reason it was a total failure of management.
NDTV: A Web question from Nitin Singh who writes in from Lucknow: Have your high profile business connections and controversies surrounding you affected the fortunes of SP.
Navin Kechival from Ranchi says: How will you defend the corrupt and criminal UP politics?
Ravindra from Atlanta says: We have been tracking news of the wealth Koda accumulated in a few years. There are many more rich politicians but unfortunately not on record. Are all politicians corrupt ?
Your assets in the Rajya Sabha are Rs 37 crore. How do politicians make so much money?
Amar Singh: That's a very good question. The slogan of Mayawati during assembly elections was "chal gundan ki chaati par mohar laga dey haathi par". Now it has been converted into "gunde chad gaye haathi par goli lagegi chaati par." The thing is all the criminals, who are alleged to be associated with us, are now in the BSP family or with D P Yadav.
NDTV: But he is talking about all the politicians, not just Samajwadi Party. He is saying all politicians are seen as corrupt.
Amar Singh: I think Sonia you are absolutely right. Criminals are time servers and are focused and are interested in only pursuing self interest. They must not be encouraged by any political party. Most corrupt politicians will compulsorily do something for the people, otherwise they will be rejected by the people. As far as my accommodation of wealth is concerned, let me tell you very frankly that I became an industrialist first and politician afterward. I was helped by my friend Shyam Bhartia who happens to be the husband of Sugna Bhartia. He was responsible to get me from Kolkata and he made me settle down in Delhi. He advised me to come to Delhi and start my own venture. He said if at all you want to do politics, you should do it in UP. I became the AICC member. He tried hard to get me a seat, which I almost got and there was a charge levelled against me by Satish Sharma and my late friend Lalit Suri that I'm very friendly with Sanjay Singh who was better known in Congress at that point of time.
NDTV: Why does Amar Singh has an image of a fixer?
Amar Singh: I don't know. But they say that you have fixed the Modi murder case. I said if he is a friend and innocent to my knowledge, fixing means finding a good lawyer. It is technically incorrect but morally correct.
NDTV: So you always make one of the best friends that you could have and one of the worst enemies..
Simran from Delhi asks: Tell us about your relationship with Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani.
NDTV: What is the common bond between Amitabh Bachchan and you?
Amar Singh: It's emotions and true feeling. I think it's the same with Anil...he cancelled his annual general meeting for which lakhs of copies were printed and distributed..just to be by my side when my surgery was on. How can I define and articulate. This is not for power, this is not for any vested interest. The reason of fascination is that I'm not an actor, Amitabh Bachchan is not a politician and Anil Ambani is neither an actor nor a politician. We are three individuals and in very diversified fields. When I was not well, Amitabh Bachchan was with me. He used to write about my health in his blogs. If anybody has gained from this relationship, it's me. Anil Ambani does not need me for his profile.. he is Dhirubhai Ambani's son and the second wealthiest man in the country.
Amitabh Bachchan in the most undisputed manner is the first family of the Mumbai film industry. I was not well and nobody was sure of my survival. Abhishek started crying in full public view at the IIFA festival. They are so emotionally and personally committed and I'm really proud to have such good friends.
NDTV: Don't you think of perhaps a patch up between the Bachchans and the Gandhis?
Amar Singh: This is something very difficult for me to comment upon. If I'm in a position to play that role, I'd love to do that. But for that you have to have equal command in relationship on both hands. The kind of command I have with the Bachchans and the intensity of relationship and mutual faith, I don't have that command in my relationship with the Gandhis. My relationship with Soniaji and Rahul is very formal. Gandhis have never spoken against the Bachchans and the Bachchans have never spoken against the Gandhis. I'm too small a fly to be an intermediary in this, because this is a relationship that has lasted before my birth and can be repaired by them only. There is no third party intervention.
NDTV: Is it true that your father was very angry when you decided to join politics and you left your home at the age of 18.
Amar Singh: Absolutely right.
NDTV: Why did he not want you to join politics?
Amar Singh: He was a normal middle class father and was in the profession of running a shop. Like every father, he taught us that the best he could provide me was another shop. He wanted me to enhance his establishment from one shop to two shops. He thought his son was wasting time. I respect him for that. His negativity brought me where I am today.