Mulayam Singh Yadav at the launch of the festival in Saifai

New Delhi, Jan. 11: Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh have called a ceasefire as their options seem limited now.

The Samajwadi Party chief spoke to his former confidant for the first time today after he quit his party posts and invited him to be the chief guest at a cultural festival in Saifai, Mulayam’s hometown in west-central Uttar Pradesh.

Amar agreed, saying that as it was a “non-political” forum, he had no problem attending the event.

The fortnight-long cultural show near Etawah usually showcases Bollywood actors, dancers and singers. It was started by Amar some years ago to “de-Mandalise” the Samajwadi, which was born out of a movement to empower the backward classes.

Cut-outs of most senior Samajwadi Party leaders, barring Amar, adorned the gates to the venue. This is the first time since Amar joined the Samajwadi Party 14 years ago that his cut-out has been missing.

Around 10km from the venue is an airport that was upgraded in 2005 to enable Mumbai stars to fly down and participate in the festival. Amar’s Bollywood “family” —Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Jaya Prada — have participated in the festival.

Samajwadi insiders explained that if Amar ran the risk of finding himself unemployed as no other party was enthusiastic about welcoming him, Mulayam’s plight was no better, though for different reasons.

Those who met Mulayam recently said he had been perceptibly rattled by some comments his right-hand man had made on his blogs about senior colleagues Janeshwar Mishra and Mohan Singh.

“Mercifully, Amar spared the Yadav family. But in his heart, Mulayam knows he will not stop at anything. If he unspools the unsavoury details, Mulayam may have to run for cover,” an insider said.

The Congress and the BJP didn’t sound keen on having Amar in their ranks, although he has friends in these parties. Even the NCP, which was thought to be a convenient nesting ground for him, was non-committal.

Despite his camaraderie with leaders such as Farooq Abdullah, observers believe a “free spirit” like Amar would feel stifled in the National Conference.

Asked if Mulayam would accept certain conditions — such as taking action against Mishra, Mohan Singh and even his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav — that Amar might broach before peace is declared, a parliamentary board member said: “That will be Mulayam’s test. He stands at the crossroads: he has to choose between his family and his general secretary if it comes to that.”

Mulayam’s son and MP Akhilesh Yadav is said to be insisting that all outstanding issues be resolved before a decision on rejecting Amar’s resignation from party posts is taken.

However, lasting peace appears a long way off. The fragile nature of the current truce was apparent when some Muslim Samajwadi MLAs, including Iqbal Mehmood from Sambal and Shahid Manzoor from Kithor, demanded the expulsion of Amar. “He has damaged the party’s credibility and is inaccessible to the leaders,” Manzoor told journalists in Delhi.

Amar told a news channel that he would neither withdraw his resignation nor “slog” for the party as he used to. He, however, stressed his decision was not a revolt against Mulayam. “Mulayam Singh has consistently given me due recognition, he has given me preference over Ram Gopal. I do not want to force him to choose between his family and me,” said Amar.

Amar’s estranged brother Arvind Singh, who is in the BJP, empathised with him. Arvind said Amar was “humiliated” by the Samajwadi leaders.