SP leaders meet over dinner to clear the air

Lucknow

In an apparent bid to clear the air after the expulsion of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, party leaders met over dinner with supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav as chief guest.

The dinner hosted here by independent MLA from Kunda, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya - considered a protege of Amar Singh - was attended by almost all party members and leadership including Mulayam Singh, his brother and leader of the opposition in Vidhan Sabha Shivpal Singh Yadav and state unit president Akhilesh Yadav.

The surprise presence was that of suspended MLA Madan Chauhan. Chauhan and three other MLAs who were present in a press conference of Jaya Prada in New Delhi were suspended from the party.

To queries on Amar Singh, the SP chief said the decision to expel him was that of the parliamentary board and he would want him to take good care of his health. Though he desisted from taking further questions on the expelled leader, the MLAs and others kept discussing the issue in hushed tones.On Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, Mulayam Singh said she is in the party and he respects her.

According to Raja Bhaiya, the dinner was to celebrate the victory of SP's Akshay Pratap Singh from Pratapgarh in recent Vidhan Parishad elections.