Amar Singh quits

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday resigned as the party's general secretary. He also stepped from the party's parliamentary board.

Singh cited health reasons for his resignation. He said that doctors had advised him rest.

"I have resigned from all posts with immediate effect and faxed my resignation to (Samajwadi Party chief) Mulayam Singh Yadav," said the 54-year-old leader.

Singh has been Yadav's closest aide all these years. His decision sparked off speculation that he quit because of his recent marginalisation within the party.

Shortly after the Samajwadi Party's humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha by-election in Firozabad in November, Singh had blamed the loss on Yadav's over-confidence.

He had also said that the party did not stand by him when he was ill and under treatment in Singapore.