RS seat is Mulayam's parting gift: Amar Singh

Despite the Samajwadi Party announcing moves to seek his disqualification, expelled party leader Amar Singh on Tuesday ruled out resigning from the Rajya Sabha and dubbed the seat as a "parting gift" given to him by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"There is no question of resigning. It is a parting gift to me from Mulayam Singh Yadav. He has gifted me the remaining tenure of the Rajya Sabha term before my expulsion," Singh told PTI.

Claiming he had "earned" the Rajya Sabha seat, Singh, who was till recently a close associate of Yadav, said he did not get the membership of the Upper House as alms.

"I had not gone anywhere with a begging bowl," he said, dismissing charges that he had indulged in anti-party activities.

Singh, however, said he was feeling "relieved", "embarrassed" as well as "ashamed" because he had resigned from key party posts on health grounds, but "should have done this earlier when criminals were being accommodated in the party and when it released its election manifesto that opposed use of computers and English language".