Amar Singh (27 January 1956 – 1 August 2020) was an Indian politician from the state of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
.
He was the general secretary of the
Samajwadi Party and was a member of the
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
, the upper house of the
Indian parliament
The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
. On 6 January 2010, he resigned from all the posts of the Samajwadi Party and was later expelled from the party by its chief,
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...
, on 2 February 2010.
In 2011, he was arrested and spent a brief period in jail for his alleged involvement in the
cash-for-votes scandal
The cash-for-votes scandal was an Indian political scandal allegedly masterminded by then Opposition Party Bharatiya Janata Party politician Sudheendra Kulkarni in which the United Progressive Alliance, the majority-holding parliamentary-party ...
. In 2016, he was elected to Rajya Sabha with support from Samajwadi Party even after facing a stiff opposition from a section of the party including the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist
* Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University
* ...
. He was also reinstated as one of the general secretaries of the party in October 2016. On August 1, 2020, Singh died of a kidney ailment in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
at the age of 64.
Early life
Amar Singh was born on 27 January 1956 at
Aligarh
Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
to a
thakur family.
He got his early education at his native place. Afterward his family moved to
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
where he completed his graduation from
St. Xavier's College and had his law education from
University College of Law, Kolkata.
Amar Singh started his career as a liaison officer of
K.K. Birla. K.K. Birla was the owner of
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
. Working with Birla he made inroads in journalist fraternity.
Political career
Singh's prominence in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
surged when the
UPA government was reduced to a minority after the
Communist Party of India,
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...
and
All India Forward Bloc withdrew their support over the proposed
Nuclear Accord with the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. His
Samajwadi Party pledged support to the
UPA government with the support of its 39 members.
Singh along with his close associate
Jaya Prada were expelled from the Samajwadi Party in February, 2010 for anti party activities. On 21 December 2010, Singh launched his official website and blog.
Singh floated his own political party, Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011, and fielded candidates in 360 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 assembly polls. However his party did not win a single seat in these elections. He joined the
Rashtriya Lok Dal
Rashtriya Lok Dal (abbreviated as RLD) (translation: National People's Party) is a political party in India founded by Chaudhary Ajit Singh. He was carrying on the political legacy of his father and former Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Ch ...
party in March 2014, contested the general elections that year from
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving this ...
, Uttar Pradesh in
2014 Indian general election and lost.
He was admitted at a hospital in Dubai with kidney failure and was stated to be critical on 19 February 2013.
Positions held
Amar Singh has been elected 4 times as
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
MP. He had lost the
16th Lok Sabha
Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...
election from
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving this ...
in 2014 as
RLD candidate.
Note: Elected to
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
in 2016 from Uttar Pradesh as an independent member by the support of
Samajwadi Party (SP).
Personal life
Amar Singh had married Pankaja Kumari Singh on 14 June 1987 and the couple have 2 daughters: Drishti Singh and Disha Singh.
Controversies
On 22 July 2008, he accused
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati
Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...
of kidnapping six
MPs of his party from
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and holding them captive in Uttar Pradesh Bhavan,
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
.
Later,
Samajwadi Party expelled the six MPs for defying the party directive during the confidence motion voting.
He also courted controversy by asking for a probe in the Jamia Nagar
Batla house encounter case
The Batla House encounter case was an armed Delhi Police operation to arrest terrorists of the Indian terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, hiding in a flat in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla, on 19 September 2008. The operation resulted ...
. First he gave ₹10 lakh cheque to the family of
Mohan Chand Sharma, a police officer who died in the encounter, which bounced when checked for its validity. Later he asked for a judicial enquiry into the firing incidence suggesting that the encounter may have been fake.
Mohan Chand Sharma's family criticized him and returned his money.
Amar Singh has been chargesheeted for offering bribes to three parliament members of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
in 2008 under the
Prevention of Corruption Act
Prevention of Corruption Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to corruption and bribery. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Prevent ...
by the Delhi Police on 24 August 2011.
Amar Singh has pleaded health grounds for not appearing before the courts where the chargesheet was being heard. However, distressed by adverse media reports, Singh has appeared before the courts to dispel allegations that he is running away from the process of law. After hearing his personal pleas, the Court has sent Singh to judicial custody till 19 September 2011, in Delhi's
Tihar jail
Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one ...
. But the money trail in this scandal was not traced to Amar Singh's account as per
Supreme Court order and nor concrete evidence could be found against him.
2011 tapes controversy
Amar Singh had filed a petition in 2006 after some of his telephone conversations were illegally tapped and were in circulation. A man named Anurag Singh was arrested in the case. The leader had moved the apex court and got a restraint order against their publication in the media. In May 2011, the
Supreme Court of India removed the stay on publishing the taped conversations with Bollywood star including
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades ...
.
''Clinton Cash''
In reference to the book ''
Clinton Cash'', the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' questioned Singh's $5 million contribution to the
Clinton Foundation, writing "Singh’s donation was treated with suspicion and amusement in India."
Films
Amar Singh acted in many films including a small role in ''
Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai
''Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai'' (''My Heart is with You'') is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language romantic action drama film directed by Satish Kaushik, produced by Boney Kapoor, released on 24 August 2000. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and ...
'' and the role of a politician in the film ''
JD.'' He also acted in a Malayalam-language film
Bombay Mittayi
''Bombay Mittayi'' ( ml, ബോംബേ മിഠായി; ) is a Malayalam-language film directed by Umar Karikkad starring Vinu Mohan, Neelambari, Amar Singh and Sreenivasan in the lead roles. This film marks the acting debut of leading ...
in 2011.
Death
Amar Singh died on 1 August 2020 at the age of 64 in Singapore due to kidney failure.
References
External links
*
Member's Website - Shri Amar Singh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Amar
1956 births
2020 deaths
21st-century Indian politicians
Deaths from kidney failure
Indian Hindus
Inmates of Tihar Jail
People from Azamgarh
People from Uttar Pradesh
Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
Politicians from Azamgarh district
University of Calcutta alumni
Rashtriya Lok Dal politicians
Samajwadi Party politicians
United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election