Amar ko Azam pe gussa kyon aata hai

chastened Amar Singh said: “I can leave the world but can never leave the SP. I have stronger ties with Mulayam Singh than his own brothers (have),which no one can break.”

This U-turn hardly papers over the cracks.

For,at the heart of the now very heated cold war between Khan and Singh are three key issues: one,the fight over who has more clout within the party and with its leader Mulayam; two,a bitter turf war in Rampur between Khan,the seven-term MLA,and Jaya Prada,the one-term MP,considered Amar Singh’s protege. And,three,the contentious alliance between SP and Kalyan Singh.

Today’s events couldn’t be more telling. At a symposium organised by Students Islamic Federation of India in Lucknow,Singh urged Muslims to accept Mulayam’s friendship with Kalyan to check the BJP. In Kanpur,Khan,at a seminar,said it’s not possible for Muslims to forgive Kalyan for the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Asked about Amar Singh’s outburst,Khan said: “He has never bad-mouthed me and,if he has,I am not aware why.”

Known for his tunakmijaji (short fuse),Khan,61,was one of the seven founders of the Samajwadi Party who came together with Mulayam to set it up after the Babri demolition in 1992.

But he shot to prominence in 1986 when the Babri locks were opened under court’s orders. That prompted him,along with the late Maulana Muzaffar Husain Kichauchvi,Zafaryab Jilani,Shafiqqur Rahman Barq to come together and lead the Babri Masjid movement.

Khan and Mulayam go a long way. He demonstrated unflinching loyalty to Mulayam during the politically critical periods of the BJP’s Ayodhya movement when he,along with Jilani,backed the SP leader when the Babri Masjid Action Committee split in 1990 parting ways with the group that supported V P Singh. Besides being the lone minority founder-member of the party,which draws heavily on its Muslim support base,Khan moved over with Mulayam when the Lok Dal split into two (the Ajit Singh-led and the Bahuguna-led factions) to Lok Dal (B) in the late ‘80s. It’s on these foundations that the Khan-Mulayam relationship rests — so much so that the SP chief has always been accommodative of Khan despite his public,often embarrassing,outbursts.

A graduate of Aligarh Muslim University,Khan contested the 1977 Assembly elections for the first time in Rampur on a Janata Party ticket and lost. Subsequently,he won the Assembly election in 1980 from Rampur. Since then,he has been an MLA — his current term is his seventh — except for a defeat in 1996 after which Mulayam sent him to the Rajya Sabha.

At the local level in Rampur,Khan’s politics has been anchored on a clear anti-Nawab family stand — opposed to Nawab Zulfikar Ali Khan and later,to,Begum Noor Bano after the death of the Nawab. While he supported Jaya Prada as SP’s candidate against Begum Noor Bano of the Congress in 2004 polls in which Jaya Prada won,the bonhomie vanished after elections.

The first flashpoint came when Khan,who was Urban Development Minister in Mulayam’s cabinet,strongly objected to Jaya Prada sharing the stage with Mulayam in Rampur whenever the Chief Minister visited the district. In 2006,at a ceremony to mark the launch of the Maulana Ali Jauhar University — Khan’s pet project — he refused to allow Jaya Prada to sit on the stage until Amar Singh and Mulayam intervened.

Amar Singh’s growing clout and visibility in the party rankled Khan. What made him jittery was the fact that another senior leader and founder-member Beni Prasad Verma had to quit the SP because of his open criticism of Amar Singh.

Sources said Khan was “enraged” at pictures of Amar Singh touching Kalyan Singh’s feet after the Mulayam-Kalyan pact. “For someone who was defined by his stand on the Babri Masjid,this was too much to take,” said a senior leader close to Khan. In fact,Khan is said to have told his colleagues that he suspected Amar Singh to have “manipulated” Mulayam to join hands with Kalyan — and,in the process,“confuse” the Muslims.

One way of registering his protest,therefore,has been the old way — opposing Jaya Prada in Rampur. Party leaders fear this infighting could very well end up helping Congress’s Noor Bano. Sources said Amar Singh wants Mulayam to work on Azam Khan to again endorse Jaya Prada in public.

That’s easier said than done. Last month,Mulayam,at a press conference,asked if there was any tension between him and Khan,said he couldn’t get through to Khan though he had called him “15-20 times.” The very next day,Khan said: “Why should Mulayam have to call me? He’s my leader,I am ready to shed blood and sweat.” Ironically,Khan said this at a rally held against Jaya Prada.

Both met within days but Khan again stayed away from SP’s national executive in Lucknow last month. This time,however,Mulayam did not attack Khan reinforcing speculation within the party that their relationship somehow endured the current tension.

So it wasn’t a surprise that late this evening,Amar Singh backtracked. Calling his relations with Mulayam as “emotional” and not merely political,he said that his meetings for the next 10 days had been scheduled. Citing his health,he said,“In case,I fail to be present at all of them,it should not be read otherwise.” Azam Khan echoed this,too: “I did not join the party but along with Mulayam Singh,I built it. The question to leave it does not arise.”

And so for both of them,it’s back to living together unhappily — at least for now.