Amar Singh rules out return to Samajwadi Party

He criticised Samajwadi Party's general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan, both his arch rivals while he was a party member.

But he praised PWD minister and the chief minister's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

"I have very old personal association with Shivpal Yadav and that would continue," he added.

Singh used to be a prominent leader of the party and was seen as the most trusted aide of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for several years until the two parted ways and Singh was thrown out of the party a few years ago.

He later formed Rashtrya Lok Manch, a party that unsuccessfully contested on many seats in the 2012. Singh has since been lying low, largely due to health issues.