New Delhi, February 7
Sticking to his charges against party General Secretary Amar Singh, Samajwadi Party MP Raj Babbar who was today suspended from the parliamentary wing of the party on charges of indiscipline, said that the secular agenda of the party was being damaged by “middleman culture.”

Mr Raj Babbar who read out the suspension letter sent to him today by SP Parliamentary Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, said there seemed to be some bankruptcy of ideology in the party. “I am against political degeneration. I have raised my voice against the culture of middlemen,” he said.

Mr Raj Babbar, who called on CPM general secretary Prakash Karat hours after his suspension from the SP’s Parliamentary Board, said leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia were the icons of the Samajwadi Party.

“Will Amar Singh and the culture of middlemen become the party’s identity in future,” he said.

Mr Raj Babbar said he was willing to cooperate with the probe panel constituted by the SP leadership to look into charges against him but its hearings should be open to the media.

Asked about his next course of action, Mr Raj Babbar said he will go to the people. He hailed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav as his “elder brother.” “I am not feeling suffocated in the party but I am raising my voice,” he said answering a query. On his meeting with CPM leaders, he said Left parties were today like an umbrella to the secular forces.

The actor-turned-politician sidelined queries about the possibility of joining the Congress. “I have friends across the political spectrum. I meet them regularly,” he said. Answering another question, Mr Babbar said he would never weaken the secular forces.

Reacting to the allegation that he was acting like an agent of the Congress, Mr Raj Babbar said “I am an agent but an agent of the people of Agra and UP.”

At one stage, Mr Babbar made caustic remarks about the SP Government in UP. “I would not say that Uttar Pradesh has bad law and order situation but criminal elements are getting strengthened,” he said.