Former Samajwadi Party Leader and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh talks to New Indian Express Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla on Sunanda Pushkar, the Padma awards won by the Bachchan family and his chances in politics on Sachchi Baat on India News.
PC: How do I introduce you?
AS: (It’s) Prabhu’s wish.
PC: You even know a lot about Sunanda (Tharoor). Everyone was surprised. How do you know so many secrets?
AS: When you are friends with a couple where the individuals have a personal differences… Sunanda and Shashi’s personal differences were out in the open, on the Internet and Twitter. Nalini Singh spoke about her. However, I kept quiet.
PC: Did you know Sunanda before their (Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda’s) marriage?
AS: Yes. I have a very close friend in Dubai. Sunanda met Shashi and I nearly at the same. She used to joke about the fact that she met both of us at the same time and got married to Shashi. I would tell her that he was single and I wasn’t. She was a jolly and a friendly person. She wasn’t a friend. She was a good friend. She was my neighbour.
PC: Were you aware of the tension running in the family?
AS: I was quiet for years. Then, a case of murder was registered. I thought that if questioned, I must tell SIT whatever I know without any sensationalism. It was my personal responsibility. It’s a wrong attitude to turn your face away from a murder happening on the road for the fear of danger, or hesitation of being called to the police station or the legalities involved.
PC: Were you called because you gave a statement on IPL?
AS: I want to make it very clear. The public statements I made before being called by the SIT are known by all. Making revelations given to SIT during those two hours public is not in the favour of the (ongoing) investigations. Journalists who look for TRPs and headlines won’t understand the matter. You are a seasoned journalist. You would know.
PC: Did you stand up for a friend?
AS: Sunanda isn’t dead. She lives within me. “Zindagi mein to sabhi pyaar kiya kartey hain, Main to marke bhi meri jaan tujhe chahoonga.” Emotions don’t die in friendship. The essence of my life is “humne jasbaat nibhaye hain usoolon ki tarah.”
PC: Did you lose a good friend?
AS: Definitely. I haven’t met Shashiji after Sunanda’s death. It means that he wasn’t my friend. He was my friend’s husband.
PC: Is Amar Singh headed for a change?
AS: A person who has gone through so much pain …
PC: Your friend Amitabh Bachchan got a Padma Vibhushan. Are you happy?
AS: My distance with Amitabh Bachchanji has not happened owing to Jaya Bachchanji. He apologised for her behaviour and said that he shouldn’t be punished for that. He accused me at a dinner held at Anil Ambaniji’s house. It was our last meeting. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan were part of the board of directors. He said that it was because of the pressure from my end that he had to resign. Boney Kapoor came there. He said that it was wrong that I made him resign from such a big organisation. He should applause if he is hearing this interview. According to my understanding of the judicial order, all male members of the Sahara Board should have been in Tihar unless all the money was cleared. He wouldn’t have received the Padma Vibhushan today (had he been in jail). I don’t want to say much today, but it’s my policy that you should not be in the directorial board unless you are doing the real work and business there.
PC: Were you part of the Sahara Board back then?
AS: I wasn’t at that time. I was, in the past. I don’t fear my past. Even Jaya Bachchan wasn’t there. She and I had left it. Amitji and Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan), my daughter-in-law joined it. I told them they shouldn’t be (part of it). I applied the same to myself. I was vice chairman, ABCL. I resigned from there. I told Amitabh Bachchan that he is the director and he never comes for board meetings.
PC: You thanked PM Modi for giving him (Bachchan) the award. What was your role in the award he got?
AS: Search in the archives. Aishwarya got the Padma Shri on Amar Singh’s letter. She deserves it. But there are other deserving people as well. The recommendation was done during the Nuclear Deal. People used to say that Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi family were against the Bachchans. She got the Padma Shri despite that. The family got most of the Padma Awards in the Congress rule. The Information Broadcasting secretary Mahesh Prasadji asked which name should be recommended. I recommended Jayaji’s name. She deserved it.
PC: Have you stood with them throughout?
AS: They have got all the awards in the Congress rule, including the National Award for the film Paa. I requested Narendra Modi to watch Paa when he was the Gujarat CM. He has got all the Padma Awards during the Congress rule. As far as the Bharat Ratna is concerned, Dilip Kumar shouldn’t be punished for being a Muslim. There is (film) Devdas in Dilip Kumar’s life. It’s a cult film that will be watched even after 200 years. Amitabh Bachchanji is a great actor, but there is no cult film that would compete with Bimal Roy and Dilip Kumar’s Devdas. It’s wrong to give both of them Padma Vibhushan. They shouldn’t have been awarded in the same year. If they were to be awarded together, Dilip Saab should have been given the Bharat Ratna.
PC: Is he (Amitabh Bachchan) a Modi-Bhakt like you?
AS: I am the person who made Amitabh Bachchan meet Narendra Modi.
PC: Will you return to politics?
AS: I won’t run after people pleading them to take me.
PC: You tried to run your party.
AS: I couldn’t. That’s alright. I won’t run after opportunities and I won’t leave an opportunity if it comes my way.
PC: Which side will you join?
AS: I am in Uttar Pradesh. Until there is Mulayam Singh in Uttar Pradesh, I have some political utility—whether (it comes to) being part of his political future or opposing him.
PC: Have you kept all options open?
AS: I won’t leave an opportunity if it comes my way and I won’t run after opportunities.
PC: Thanks for coming to our studio.
AS: Thanks.