06 January,2010 02:24 PM IST | | PTI
Amar Singh on Wednesday resigned as general secretary and other posts in the Samajwadi Party citing health reasons amid speculation over deepening differences with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Singh, who is in Dubai, said over phone that he has resigned as national general secretary, spokesman and member of the Samajwadi Party parliamentary board. He faxed his resignation from all the three posts to Yadav, he said.
"I have resigned from all the three posts with immediate effect and I have faxed my resignation to Mulayam Singh Yadav," said the 54-year-old high-profile spokesman of the party.
Shortly after the party's humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha by-election in Firozabad in November, Singh had criticised Yadav, saying the defeat was because of the over confidence of the SP chief and his family. Yadav's daughter-in-law Dimple was the SP candidate who lost to Congress nominee Raj Babbar, who was earlier with SP.
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Even during the Lok Sabha elections, Singh's ties with the party leadership had come under strain over Jaya Pradha's candidature in Rampur which was opposed by Azam Khan, who later exited the party.
Singh insisted that there was "no political motive behind my resignation and I am doing so strictly as per the advice of my doctors, who have asked me to take complete rest as I have just undergone a major kidney transplant operation."
Asked why he decided to resign three months after his operation, he said, "I had resigned on three occasions in the past but on each occasion Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) had rejected my request. I hold him in high esteem."
He said, "Family and my health comes first for me. Doctors have advised me complete rest and it is not possible to adhere to their advice while following such a hectic schedule. Therefore, I decided to resign from all the three posts".
Singh said he will continue to remain an ordinary worker of the party and has requested the SP chief to make Ram Gopal Yadav the party's national spokesperson in his place.
"Ram Gopal is already member of the parliamentary board of the party and also a general secretary and therefore, he can become the spokesperson also," the SP leader said.
Singh said he will be going to Singapore where he was operated late last year to consult his doctors as he does not want his kidney problem to relapse and will be back in the country by the middle of this month.
