E-Paper
Aide’s remark leads to speculation about Azam Khan camp’s unhappiness with Samajwadi Party
The speculation came to the fore after Azam Khan’s media incharge Fasahat Khan alias Shanu said: “CM Yogi’s comment was right that Akhilesh doesn’t want Azam Khan to be out (of jail).”
Speculation has surfaced in political circles of Uttar Pradesh about senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s camp being upset with the party to the extent that he may consider leaving it. Khan, 73, is the SP’s Rampur MLA.
The speculation came to the fore after Azam Khan’s media incharge Fasahat Khan alias Shanu said: “CM Yogi’s comment was right that Akhilesh doesn’t want Azam Khan to be out (of jail).”
Fasahat made the remark at a meeting at the party office in Rampur on Sunday.
During the UP assembly election campaign, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said, “Akhilesh doesn’t want Azam Khan to come out of jail.”
The buzz about Azam Khan comes even as speculation of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Yadav’s rift with his alliance partner SP and his possible shift to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has strengthened.
Azam Khan is currently in Sitapur jail from where he fought the 2022 UP assembly elections and won the Rampur seat for the 10th time.
Addressing the meeting at the SP office in Rampur, Fasahat said: “On the indication of Azam Khan saheb, the Muslims not only in Rampur, but also in several districts around it voted for the SP. But our rashtriya adhakshya ji (the SP national president) did not take the side of Muslims. Azam Khan is in jail for more than two years, but the SP president only once went to meet him in jail. Not just this, he was also not made the leader of opposition, nor are Muslims being given importance in the party.”
“Now Akhilesh Yadav feels that our clothes stink,” Fasahat purportedly said.
Samajwadi Party state spokesperson and national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said: “I am not aware of any such meeting or comments. Azam Khan is with the SP and the SP is with him.”
Azam Khan is in jail since September 2019 with 80 criminal cases filed related to land encroachment and criminal intimidation.
Azam Khan’s wife Tazeen Fatima is an ex-MLA and former Rajya Sabha member.
Their son Abdullah Azam Khan won the Swar assembly seat in Rampur.
Azam Khan has been winning the Rampur seat since 1980. He lost only in 1996 to the Congress. Tazeen Fatima won the Rampur seat when he vacated it after winning the Rampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019. On March 22, Azam Khan resigned as Rampur Lok Sabha member to retain his assembly seat. This was done on the same day on which Akhilesh quit as the SP’s Azamgarh Lok Sabha member to retain his Karhal assembly seat.
Earlier, Azam Khan had been out of SP for almost a year after the party had expelled him in May 2009 for six years. The expulsion was revoked in December 2010 and he rejoined the party. During the period of his expulsion, he did not ally with or join any other party.
The guessing game about Azam Khan’s next political move began even as SP MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq’s remarks in Sambhal created a stir. Barq on Saturday said he was not satisfied with the working of his party “which was not working enough for Muslims”.
