Lucknow, May 11: From the heat and dust of the heartland to the cool climes of Cannes.

Having suffered a beating in the Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh will take a break with the Bachchans at the Cannes film festival, where Aishwarya Rai’s Jodha Akbar is to be screened next week.

Sources in the Samajwadi Party said Amar, who recently underwent a gall stone operation, might extend his holiday to London to recuperate.

Amar will first go to Nice with Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya, where they will be joined by Abhishek and Aishwarya, who are now honeymooning in French Polynesia.

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The 60th Annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled between May 16 and 28.

While Amar is away, his industrialist friends face an uncertain future. Mayavati’s camp today hinted she would spare “nobody” who she thinks has benefited under Mulayam Singh Yadav’s raj. Some of them had yesterday got a taste of what is to come with a series of tax raids.

Sources said Mulayam would stay on in Lucknow, but he wouldn’t launch an offensive. The tentative strategy is to let the new chief minister make the first move.

The Samajwadi chief today blamed the Election Commission for his debacle. He said the heavy security at polling booths had “scared away” his voters.

Mulayam said the Bahujan Samaj Party was his only rival of consequence. “The Congress and the BJP have been wiped off the scene, and the BSP and Samajwadi Party are now the main opponents,” he said after handing his resignation to governor T.V. Rajeswar.

Mulayam’s home on Vikaramaditya Road wore a deserted look. A handful of party functionaries who had huddled there poured scorn on Amar.

“Netaji (Mulayam) ko dubo diya. Ab hum Mayavati se dande khayenge aur Amar Singhji videsh ki thandi hawa (Amar has sunk Mulayam. While we face Mayavati’s stick, he will be enjoying the cool breeze of Cannes),” a party leader said.

Amar has been unpopular with a section of his party, especially because of his brush with Bollywood. Some leaders had frowned on his involvement with the recent AbAsh wedding.

“We are supposed to be pro-poor but somehow we have got identified with only the rich and famous lately,” a former MLA said.

According to some leaders, Amar had even contemplated getting knighthood for “brother” Amitabh in the UK, courtesy good friend Keith Vaz of the Labour Party. But the plan was dropped.

Samajwadi leaders said Mulayam had been “charmed” by Amar’s connections in the glamour world.

The glare on glamour notwithstanding, two faces from tinsel town are keeping the leaders busy. The Samajwadi Party is abuzz with speculation on the future role of the two Jayas — Jaya Bachchan and Jaya Prada — who took centre stage during campaigning.

According to sources, another Jaya may join the list, but only if Mulayam hops on to Jayalalithaa’s third-front bandwagon.