Wikipedia describes Amar Singh as a “politician”. How will history refer to him? Part-politician, part-fixer, the SP general secretary and RajyaSabha MP exhibits traits of both, but in so potent a blend as to render him unique. He is a species unto himself, defying nomenclature.
Often described as a “dalal”, most recently by UP CM AkhileshYadav, Amar Singh doesn’t quite fit the bill. Certainly, rumour has it that the recent political crisis in UP was sparked off by a powerful industrialist, close to the Samajwadi Party general secretary, whom Akhilesh had no desire to oblige with a fat government contract. His sire, Mulayam Singh Yadav and “uncle” were piqued.Assuming that rumour doesn’t lie, well, that’s how political parties and individual politicians raise funds. By that token, Amar Singh may be described as a “fund-raiser” for the party. But his skill-set, acquired in the badlands of UP, is far more sophisticated than mere fund-raising. He is also a “fixer”, albeit operating at the highest levels of government.
While the term has acquired negative connotations, the fact is that the fixer has become a necessary feature of the increasingly complex Indian democratic process. Whether at the village level or in the capital, they are the interface between the citizen and the power structure. The ubiquitous fixer will ensure delivery of services through his network of political and bureaucratic contacts, which are otherwise inaccessible to the aamaadmi.
His role is to keep the wheels of government – admittedly greased by graft – spinning. He also plays a critical role in elections and is sought out by political parties to help reach out to voters. The increasingly centralised structure of political parties has resulted in a disconnect with the grassroots worker. Enter the fixer, who may or may not be associated with a party. Even if he is, chances are he is removed from ideology and the blind passions it incites. He has an intimate knowledge of local conditions and structures and a sophisticated understanding of the relations between various levels of politics and administration.
Amar Singh likewise understands that deal-making is the essence of government. Good deals are in the interests of the party/constituency/state the deal-maker represents, bad ones are detrimental. Most politicians operate on the same principle, but few have the networking and strategic skills he brings to the table. From 1996 to 2004, Amar Singh’s pan-political network was on display. He was as comfortable with the Left as the Right. He could have lunch with Communist leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet and tea with ArunJaitley. And he changed the complexion of Indian politics, when (in 1999), he stymied Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s bid for power. Later that year, when the Akhilesh-Dimple love story came to fruition, Amar Singh was the master of ceremonies at the imposing reception held in New Delhi, attended by his Bollywood buddies. As he recently reminded Akhilesh, it was Amar Singh who helped the young couple to the altar, brushing aside the family’s reservations. He was then at his apex. The “AS” club included Big Business as represented by the Ambanis and Subroto Roy “Sahara”, Big B and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
What set him apart from the capital’s run-of-the-mill deal-makers (or wheeler-dealers) was altruism: his willingness not to cut deals. He was known for using his vast human resource network to assist others without expecting recompense in any shape or form. From his friends, he gave and expected absolute loyalty. He didn’t always get it, but for every person who let him down, there was another who did not. He never, even at his lowest ebb, ran out of friends.
One too many bad deals and more than a touch of hubris – not to mention 10 years of Congress rule, six of them minus his Communist buddies – eroded Amar Singh’s position in the power structure. Big B and Big A turned their backs on him. He was expelled from the Samajwadi Party in 2010 and jailed the following year in the cash-for-votes scam.
The 2016 bounce-back saw a much diminished Amar Singh, weighed down by ill-health and a dodgy reputation. Akhilesh sees him as a poor fit in the Samajwadi Party, although their agendas may be similar. Amar Singh — the-politician, the man with a vision and a plan, had once sought to “develop” UP through industrialisation. Akhilesh wants to do the same, but on his own terms.
Fixer, fund-raiser, dalal, wheeler-dealer, altruist, do-gooder, strategist, networker, trouble-shooter, crisis-manager: Amar Singh has gathered more labels than a well-travelled suitcase. But resolving what is essentially a personal feud may take more heart than skill.
