On his 54th birthday, Amar Singh was handed out a rude gift by the leadership of the Samajwadi Party (SP) that asked him to resign his membership of the Rajya Sabha.

Shortly after replacing Singh as party general secretary, newly appointed spokesman Mohan Singh launched a frontal attack on his predecessor, saying: “Since he has already disassociated himself from the party, the SP appeals to him to resign from the membership of the Rajya Sabha.”

Challenging him to quit, Mohan Singh added: “Amar knows that he will lose whatever little importance he now retains if he vacates membership of the Rajya Sabha.

“But he should know that unlike membership of the Lok Sabha — the RS membership is a privilege that a party bestows on individuals”, Singh said.

Making it clear that he was not in a mood to oblige, Amar Singh said he would not resign from the Rajya Sabha.

“Because of ill health, I have given up party posts, but have not quit the party”, he told reporters.

He said he would resign from the party “if asked by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav to do so”. “The SP president called me this morning to greet me on my birthday. He did not ask me to resign either from the party or from the Rajya Sabha,” he added.

Addressing the media, Mohan Singh had earlier described Amar Singh as a part of history. “In political parties, people keep coming and going. One major question before the SP now is how to make people aware of its socialist face.”

Pointing that the party had provided RS membership to Amar thrice, Mohan Singh said, “Since he has resigned from all other posts, he should resign from the Rajya Sabha as well”.

Earlier, party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav announced other appointments to party posts: Brij Bhushan Tiwari as the vice president, besides Bishambhar Prasad Nishad and Ramashray Kushwaha as general secretaries in place of actor/politician Sanjay Dutt and Obeidullah Azmi. J. Antony has been nominated as member of the party’s parliamentary board.

Speaking to reporters, Amar Singh fired his ballistics against the “dynasty rule” in the SP, saying that the affairs of the party were being governed by the mythical “five Pandavas”.

Reacting sharply, the SP spokesman said that Amar had served the party for the past 15 years. “A loyal servant should not speak about his master in this manner,” he said.