‘Amar Singh is a political dalal
and corporate fixer’

Raj Babbar, the 53-year-old filmstar-turned-politician, has finally become a ‘leader’. And it was his outburst against Amar Singh that did it. The two-time MP from Agra tells Shahid Faridi that his anger had been building up for quite some time. In an interview, he says, ‘The problem with this broker culture in the Samajwadi Party is that the brokers are becoming leaders.’ Excerpts:

You appeared to have a fairly good equation with Amar Singh. What’s suddenly gone wrong?
If that was the impression I had given, then let me set the record straight. For the past one-and-a-half years, I have not shared a platform with Amar Singh in Agra. When the Taj Mahotsav was celebrated, I was kept out of all the events, so I had boycotted it. And for the past eight months, I have not attended any Samajwadi Party programme in Agra. I have now raised my voice because I feel that Amar Singh was not only destroying the Samajwadi Party in Agra but in the entire state of Uttar Pradesh. In his drive to promote himself within the party and outside, Amar Singh has caused immense damage to the state of Uttar Pradesh. The best efforts by the Members of Parliament belonging to the Samajwadi Party to bring in projects into their constituencies have been opposed by Amar Singh, who is working overtime to turn the Samajwadi Party into a two-member party where there will be no place for any self-respecting leader. What I have said is what every leader of the Samajwadi Party feels. I have given voice to the feelings of scores of Samajwadi Party leaders.

If things were not good between you and Amar Singh for such a long time, why did you keep quiet for so long, especially since nothing budged in your party without Amar Singh’s support? Was there an immediate provocation for you to have spoken out now?
I have always been in touch with Shivpal Singhji [Mulayam's brother and a minister in Uttar Pradesh] and Akhilesh [Mulayam's son and a Member of Parliament]. Therefore, I managed to get things moving in my constituency. But Amar Singh always opposed all my efforts to improve things in Agra. None of the big projects such asbuilding an international stadium, international airport, improving power and water supply systems, etc, could therefore materialise, in spite of my best efforts.

The Central government, whether it was during the regime of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance or now, has been extremely supportive of my efforts to build a world-class stadium and an international airport in Agra, which is one of the top tourist destinations of the world because of the Taj Mahal, which is [a] world heritage [site]. Even Mulayam Singhji approved of my ideas. He even made an announcement that land would soon be given by the state government for the stadium. I had spoken to Sunil Dutt saab. He called his secretary, Amiya Chandra, and asked him to lend full Central support for the building the stadium. Dutt saab instructed his ministry officials to treat my demand as a special case, as the demand related to the heritage city of Agra. He even asked them to try and see if the stadium at Agra could be built on the model followed for backward areas and the states of the Northeast. Under this model, the states contribute 30 per cent and the Central government bears 70 per cent cost of important projects.

For the airport, I had met Shahnawaz Hussain when he was a Union civil aviation minister. Mayawati had announced that a new international airport would be built at Dadri. But I suggested that the new airport should be built at Agra.

My efforts had the support of Mulayam Singh. Before the previous elections in the state, he had announced that if the Samajwadi Party formed the next government, it would make the international airport in Agra a reality. After the Samajwadi Party government was formed in the state, I started working on the airport project. But the state cabinet announced that a new airport would be built at Saifai, Mulayam Singh's native village.

Then, there was the most important project of drinking water. I had told prime minister Manmohan Singh about the bad name our country was getting because of the travel advisory issued in a large number of countries to those planning to visit Agra to see the Eighth Wonder of the World: “Visit Agra but don't drink the local water.” I told the prime minister about the Rs 350-crore project I had drawn up to provide clean drinking water to the city. Dr Singh expressed his approval of the project. He called cabinet secretary B K Chaturvedi and asked him to help execute the project. The prime minister's instructions were immediately followed up, and Union urban development secretary Anil Baijal called the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam chief to Agra to discuss the project.

All the projects seemed to be on track as I was relentlessly pursuing them. But [then] they hit a roadblock called Amar Singh. He advised Mulayam Singhji against clearing these big projects for Agra. His plea was that if these projects get implemented, Raj Babbar, and not the party, would get the credit. He cited the example of the then railways minister Nitish Kumar, who, while inaugurating the Divisional Railway Manager office in Agra, announced from the stage that the office could not have opened without Raj Babbar's efforts. All this made Amar Singh very jealous.
Then, there was this Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme. Under this scheme, the Union government gave funds to improve power transmission in various towns. When I approached the late P M Sayeed saab, the then Union power minister, to include Agra under
the scheme, he understood the importance of have proper power supply in that heritage city. But here, too, the tender for carrying out the work was delayed endlessly at the behest of Amar Singh.

He would just not let me work for my constituency. If I had kept quiet, he would have destroyed me in the eyes of my constituents. I, therefore, decided to come out in the open and tell the people of Agra as to how all my efforts to improve the infrastructure of the city were opposed by Amar Singh.

Did you discuss these issues with Mulayam Singh and other party leaders to seek redress of your problems?
Yes. I made several attempts to seek redress of my problems. But there was no support. I must mention here that when I complained to Shivpal Singhji [Mulayam's brother] about the advertisements of the Uttar Pradesh Development Corporation in which the pictures of Mulayam Singhji were carried on the left side while those of Amar Singh appeared on the more prominent right side at the same height, he was quick to get an order issued from the party organisation that henceforth the pictures in all advertisements of the party's national president should be carried above other party leaders. As for the other issues, everyone expressed sympathy but no support.

What next?
Ab hawain hi karengi roshni ka faisla,
Jis diye mein jaan hogi bas wo hi rah jayega.
(Now, only the winds will decide the fate of light Only that candle that has life in it will stay lit)
But it is said that the fuel for your diya is being provided by the Congress and that you will soon join that party.

These are rumours being floated by Amar Singh and his cronies. There is no question of my joining the Congress or any other party as I am still in the Samajwadi Party. The issues I have raised are for the betterment of the Samajwadi Party. If this corporate and political fixer were removed from the party, there could still have been some hope. But he seems to have a vice-like grip over the party leadership and, therefore, I have lost all hope. I have, therefore, decided to expose these people who try to pass themselves off as political leaders and thereby do immense damage to the image of the political leadership of the country.

You have been associated with Mulayam Singh Yadav for a long time. Is it the end of that long relationship?
I have been working closely with Mulayam Singhji since 1990. We had worked together even before, but since 1990 we have been very close. This long association with Mulayam Singh has left me in no doubt that he has nothing to do with secularism. He has broken all the secular parties in Uttar Pradesh. The Bahujan Samaj Party, which is a party of the poor, has been the main target of the Samajwadi Party. He has broken that party and humiliated and terrorised its leaders. Mulayam Singh is actually working against the secular forces. He is a hypocrite. We used to call him “chhota Limaye”. Now he has become chhota Amar Singh. He is now working in tandem with the BJP. He meets RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] chief [K S ] Sudarshan. The RSS mouthpiece advocates a tie-up between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

But Mulayam Singh is not in favour of any tieup with the BJP. His party's policy, as we understand it, is to keep equal distance from both the BJP and the Congress and work for the formation of a third front in association with other like-minded parties…
What is this third front? Can there be any third front government without the support of either the BJP or the Congress? The Congress is a secular party. the Samajwadi Party supported it. Now, it is opposing it. I think this whole talk of a third front is nothing but an attempt by the Samajwadi Party to weaken the secular forces in the country and help the Bharatiya Janata Party. I want to ask Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh five questions:
1. What was the RSS chief doing at the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's residence during the Mau riots?
2. Mulayam Singh says he wants to form a third front government. Whose support will he take in forming this government—the Congress or the BJP's?
3. What has made RSS papers, Organiser and Panchjanya, suggest a BJP-Samajwadi party tie-up?
4. What was the Israeli ambassador to India doing at Mulayam Singh's residence in Lucknow?
5. What is Mulayam Singh’s relationship with the former US president Bill Clinton, especially when they can't talk to each other since they don't know each other's language?

I charge here—and you can take me on record—that the Samajwadi Party today is working against secular forces and is promoting the Zionist agenda of vilifying Muslims and secular parties who champion their cause.

Your break up with the Samajwadi Party seems complete. The Samajwadi Party disciplinary committee is to decide your fate…
It will not decide my fate, but [that of] the fate of the Samajwadi Party. On the first day of my raising the banner of revolt against the suppressive system of the party, I was dubbed a US agent. On the second day, I was called a Congress agent. At least, I have not been charged with fixing land deals at Agra and Noida, [and] brokering oil and telecom deals.

Is there anybody being accused of all these?
Amar Singh. Isn't he?

Where do we see Raj Babbar two years from now—in the BJP or in the Congress?
I had joined politics to help the poor and downtrodden. I am going to hit the road and let the people guide me.