Sanjay Dutt resigns as SP general secretary - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has resigned as the general secretary of Samajwadi Party (SP). The actor-turned-politician resigned a couple of days after Amar Singh , quit from all party posts of the SP. The 53-year-old Singh was considered the right hand man of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav . The media had reported a rift between party chief Yadav and Singh after the party's poor show in its stronghold Uttar Pradesh , winning just 23 seats out of 80, in the last general elections. Dutt said that he was hurt by the treatment meted out to Amar Singh by some of the party functionaries. "Certain leaders of the party have hurt him ( Amar Singh ), so I also feel hurt from the fact that a man like Amar Singh , who has given his life to the party, has been meted out such treatment," said Dutt. "So, I want to state that if he ( Amar Singh ) is not the general secretary of the party, then I have no right of holding the general secretary's post. So, I want to resign and say that I will be not be the general secretary of Samajwadi Party," he added. However, Dutt said he would remain in the party as long as Amar Singh is there. Amar Singh had on Wednesday (January 6) announced his resignation as general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and from his other posts, citing health reasons.