Amar Invited as Chief Guest at Sefai Festival

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s nephew Dharmendra Yadav has said that Amar Singh has been invited at the concluding function of the Sefai festival on January 21 as chief guest, and has expressed hope that he will come.

Amar Singh resigned from all party posts last week but Mulayam Singh has refused to accept his resignation saying that the issue will be sorted out.

“We are confident that Amar Singh will grace the Sangeet Sammelan that day. He has arranged for artistes for the Sangeet Sammelan in the past and we are confident that this year too, the festival will be a great success with his blessings,” said Dharmedra, who is an MP from Badaun.

Sefai is Mulayam Singh’s hometown. Mulayam government initiated the annual festival in 1995.

Dharmendra is the chairman of the organizing committee of the festival which is beginning on Monday. Mulayam and Ram Gopal Yadav are its patrons.

It should be noted that though Amar Singh has been invited as chief guest in the festival, his photograph is missing from the posters and hoardings put up by the organizing committee.

Mulayam, who was in Kolkata to enquire about ailing CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu, had said on Sunday: “Amar Singh has resigned from the post of general secretary and from the membership of the party’s parliamentary board. But our relationship is such that I will not accept his resignation. This will be resolved soon.”

On the resignation of Sanjay Dutt, who has said his decision is a natural corollary to his mentor’s (Amar Singh) decision, Mulayam merely said, “Everything will be fine.”

However, in spite of the efforts to defuse the crisis, the feud between the supporters and opponents of Amar Singh continued to rage on Sunday.