Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh lost the battle to a kidney-related ailment and breathed his last on Saturday.
The former SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP was had been at ill health for quite some time and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore.
Singh was a veteran leader of the Samajwadi Party and a political stalwart who once counted significant industrialists and Bollywood stars among his close friends.
It was Amar Singh's encounter with Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on a flight back in 1996 that inspired him to enter politics. After the brief, but memorable encounter with the Yadav, he joined as its general secretary, and enjoyed an illustrious career for over a decade.
In 2010, he resigned from all the posts of the Samajwadi Party and was later expelled from the party by its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav.
He later returned to political life in 2016, when he was elected to Rajya Sabha with support from Samajwadi Party even after facing stiff opposition from a section of the party including the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
1. Cash for votes controversy, 2008
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In 2008, Amar Singh tried to help the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government win the trust vote. However, was accused of being involved in a cash-for-votes scam. He was chargesheeted for this alleged act of purchasing votes.
2. Phone tapping controversy, 2011
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Having a number of significant friends in different industries, Amar Singh allegedly fixed deals with top officials across different fields, including politics, business, bureaucrats and people from Bollywood industry over calls. These calls were recorded and allegedly 'exposed' to the media in 2011. Singh denied these allegations and claimed that it wasn't his voice in those recordings
3. Bipasha Basu controversy, 2006
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A controversy erupted in 2006 after Amar Singh's phone was illegally tapped and later snowballed into a major storm alleging that he had an inappropriate conversation with Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu. Denying that the remark was aimed at Basu, Singh said that it was from a conversation with a male friend.
4. Amar Singh and the Bachchans
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In 2010, Amar Singh was sacked from the Samajwadi party due to anti-party activities and he had asked Jaya to leave the party as well. However, Jaya refused to leave and decided to remain a Rajya Sabha member on the candidate. It is said that this led to bitterness between Singh and the Bachchans.
Following the development, Singh started speaking against the Bachchans and made several controversial remarks against them which led to the end of friendship on a sour note.
5. Amar Singh vs Mayawati, 2008
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Another controversy broke out in July 2008 when Amar Singh accused Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati of kidnapping six MPs of his party and holding them captive in Uttar Pradesh Bhavan ahead of the crucial trust vote. Later, the six MPs including him were expelled from the party.
6. 'Fix-a-judge' CD controversy, 2011
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In 2011, a conversation between Singh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and former law minister Shanti Bhushan was said to have been recorded to a CD. On the disc, Bhushan is allegedly heard suggesting that a judge could be bribed for Rs 4 crore for a desired court verdict.
