Amar Singh Claims Proximity With Corporate Houses Was No Secret

But says he won’t spare the “Mumbai-based industrialist” if the voice in the alleged death threat is authenticated.

Samajwadi Party leader and Member of Parliament Amar Singh is one of the leaders who have been named in the Essar Tapes. He is suspected to have favoured Reliance industries in various inquiries by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), for which Amar Singh was a panel-member.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) set up in 2001 was chaired by Lt General (retired) Prakash Mani Tripathi.

Amar Singh spoke to Rahul Kanwal of India Today on 21 June to clarify his stance on his connection with late BJP member Pramod Mahajan, Reliance industries, and the alleged death threat.

Also Read: The Quint Accesses Essar Audio Tapes: Exclusive Transcripts Part 1

SP MP Amar Singh breaks silence on #EssarTapes. Listen in to what he said on #NEWSROOM #ITVideo https://t.co/rgSKXqxMYP

— India Today (@IndiaToday) June 21, 2016

Amar Singh Denies Influencing JPC for Reliance

While speaking to Kanwal, Amar Singh said that there was nothing hidden about his proximity with a few corporate houses, including Reliance.

I was the only politician, if you go and check the records, [when] General Tripathi was the chairman of the JPC, I wrote in black and white that these are the corporate houses that are closely connected with me. That means they keep talking to me. So, if you [Tripathi] want me to remove [them] from the process and scrutiny and inquiry, I’ll do that. I also gave direction that all other members should disclose their proximity with different corporate houses. So that as and when these issues are cropping up with these particular houses, which are disclosed by respective members to be known to them, they should absolve themselves from the process of inquiry and this is on record. I named Reliance in that also.

Amar Singh, SP Leader to India Today

Also Read: The Quint Accesses Essar Audio Tapes: Exclusive Transcripts Part 2

Alleged Death Threat

Another report related to Amar Singh and the Essar tapes is related to a “certain Mumbai-based industrialist” who was was heard talking about “eliminating Amar Singh”. To this, Singh said:

If there is such conversation on tape and if there is any authenticity in it, then howsoever high and mighty that person is I’m not going to spare. I’m not going to spare judicially. I’m a Member of Parliament now on the floor of the House [Rajya Sabha] and maybe I’ll have to contact judiciary.

Singh’s security was withdrawn by the Home Ministry earlier in June, after the ministry sought a fresh threat-assessment.

Also Read: Essar Tapes: Lawyer Uppal Claims Threat to Life, Seeks Protection