Amar Singh: The wily Thakur who had friends across political spectrum

Career politician and Member of Parliament, Amar Singh, passed away on August 1, 2020. He had been hospitalised in Singapore. Singh was an active commentator of domestic issues till the very end, even tweeting tributes to Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Eid-al-Adha wishes. He had been battling health issues for a long time. On March 22, he had tweeted a video from his hospital bed, supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for social distancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 3 weeks earlier, he had debunked rumours of his death with a message titled 'Tiger Zinda Hai'. A month earlier, he had posted a rapprochement message for actor Amitabh Bachchan. The two had been close friends till a falling out around a decade ago. In the political world, Singh had been considered close to Samajwadi Party founder-patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, until he quit the party in 2010. A year later, he floated the Rashtriya Lok Manch which didn't perform well in the subsequent elections. In 2014, he had joined Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.