I will not accept Amar Singh's resignation: Mulayam

Kolkata, Jan 10 - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Sunday said he would not accept the resignation of Amar Singh from party posts and asserted that the problems, including Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's decision to quit as general secretary, would be sorted out.

"It's true that Amar Singh has given his resignation from all party posts. But I will not accept his resignation. Everything will be ok," Mulayam told reporters at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here.

Asked about Sanjay Dutt's announcement of stepping down from his post, he said: "Everything will be sorted out."

Mulayam was in Kolkata to visit the private hospital where Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu is critically ill with pneumonia.

Dutt had quit Saturday night expressing sadness at the way his "mentor" Amar Singh had been treated by the party. However, Dutt said he would remain in the party for the time being.

Dutt had said he was following in the footsteps of Amar Singh, who had made a lot of sacrifices for the party and even campaigned in the April-May 2009 general elections despite his ill-health and kidney ailments, but still was humiliated by its leadership.

Amar Singh Wednesday announced his resignation as general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and from his other posts, citing health reasons.

"I hardly had any rest. Doctors told me it is not good. At the age of 53, I am entitled to earned leave and need to give more priority to my family. After 20 years of hard work, they (the family) should get priority over Mulayam-ji and the party," Amar Singh, who had undergone a kidney transplant last summer and is one of the most visible and quoted politicians of the country, told a news channel. (IANS)