Indian Legislator and Former Samajwadi Party Leader Amar Singh Dies at 64

Amar Singh, a member of the Indian parliament's upper house (Rajya Sabh) and former leader of the Samajwadi Party has died at age 64 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore on Saturday. He had been battling health issues for many years and had undergone a kidney transplant two years ago. He is survived by his wife Pankaja and twin daughters. After suffering kidney failure in 2013, he returned to political life by 2016.

Just hours before passing away, Singh had extended his Eid holiday greetings on his Twitter account and paid tribute to freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak on the anniversary of his death. 

Twitter is abuzz with the messages of condolences, with top leaders reacting to the death. 

Defence Minister Rajanth Singh tweeted he is saddened to hear about the death of Amar Singh. "He had a friendly relationship with all political parties." 

​Upper House Chairperson and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said, "I pay my homage to the untimely demise of Shri Amar Singh. I express my condolences to his family members in this time of sorrow and pray that his soul rests in peace."

​​Due to his frail health, earlier in the year there were rumours that Singh had passed away; the MP had then released a video on his social media to dismiss the reports. While asserting that he will come back stronger after treatment, he had said in the video: “However I am, I am yours, good or bad. I will live my life the same way as in the past".

Until 2008, Amar Singh was a key member of the Samajwadi Party when the party moved to support the UPA-I government after the Communist Party of India withdrew from it over a nuclear deal with the US.

After a rift with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2010, he set up his own party Rashtriya Lok Manch. However, the party failed to win even a single seat in the following year’s assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. 

Singh had a close relationship with actor Amitabh Bachchan and his family but the two fell apart in 2011 after Singh went to jail. The Bachchans, despite being close, never visited Amar Singh in jail. In February, he had expressed regret over his fallout with actor Amitabh Bachchan and his family. 

Singh was elected to the Upper House with support from the Samajwadi Party in 2016. He was also reinstated as one of the general secretaries of the party, in October 2016.