The Rajya Sabha MP said he had consistently supported Mr. Yadav when the "entire Yadav family was against Akhilesh’s marriage to Dimple Yadav."

Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, the man considered to be at the centre of the power struggle within the Samajwadi Party, broke his silence on Thursday, claiming that he was hurt and disappointed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister terming him a “dalal [middle man].”

Mr. Singh said he had consistently supported Mr. Yadav when the “entire Yadav family was against Akhilesh’s marriage to Dimple Yadav.”

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Mr. Singh said: “I am hurt by his words. There is no photo of his wedding where this ‘dalal’ is not there. When his family was opposing his marriage, I was the only one supporting him.”

The U.P. Chief Ministerhad accused Mr. Singh of being a “middle man” in questionable deals, and lashed out at him in the now infamous meeting of Samajwadi Party leaders on Monday.

“I may not be with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, but I will always be with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh. The father of the Samajwadi Party and the Chief Minister are the same, and God stands as a testimony that whenever I spoke to Netaji [Mulayam Singh], it was in favour of Akhilesh. Netaji also knows this truth,” Mr Singh said.

“When I was struggling for life and undergoing a dialysis, Netaji had come to meet me and he said there was a discussion on the issue of State president and when Akhilesh Yadav replaced Shivpal Yadav as the Uttar Pradesh unit’s president, even then I was blamed for it,” he said, adding: “If my ‘bali’ [sacrifice] can solve the problem, I am ready for it.”

Mr. Singh also rejected reports of him having allegedly called the Chief Minister Aurangzeb and Mr. Mulayam Singh Shahjahan. “I have never talked to Ashu Malik. The news report has nothing to do with me.”

Mr. Singh said that while he had met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi a few times, Mr. Yadav, a member of his own party, had been out of reach.