Samajwadi Party national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday met senior party leader Azam Khan at Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad, after which he said Khan was confident that the SP would form the government in Uttar Pradesh following 2027 assembly elections, with the public mood having turned against the BJP.
The meeting took place behind a wire-mesh partition, an arrangement that drew sharp criticism from Yadav, who, while addressing reports outside the jail, described it as a violation of protocol and a form of continuous harassment.
Khan, a 10-time MLA, four-time minister and two-time MP, was lodged in Dasna Jail on November 1 after a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ghaziabad remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested him on October 31, moments after he walked out of Rampur district jail on bail in a dual PAN card case. The money laundering case is linked to alleged irregularities involving Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, founded by Khan.
“All the cases filed against him are fabricated. His only crime is that he established a university for children from poor families of marginalised sections of society, and he is a Muslim,” Yadav said. He alleged that attempts had been made to harm Khan and that his family was also being mistreated. However, he asserted that Khan remained steadfast and would always stay with the Samajwadi Party.
Yadav said they discussed the political situation ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. According to him, Khan expressed confidence that people across sections had turned against the ruling party and that the SP would return to power. Yadav added that if the party formed the government, one of the first steps would be to end the practice of conducting jail meetings behind wire mesh. He also said the SP’s ties with the Congress would remain strong.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav said they discussed the political situation ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. According to him, Khan expressed confidence that people across sections had turned against the ruling party and that the SP would return to power. Yadav added that if the party formed the government, one of the first steps would be to end the practice of conducting jail meetings behind wire mesh. He also said the SP’s ties with the Congress would remain strong.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to the partnership between Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and Chandra Shekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party (ASP), Yadav remarked that the alliance had been forged because those parties had no intention of ousting the BJP. He maintained that the SP would contest the elections with full strength and expressed faith in the judiciary to grant relief to Khan.
The visit comes three weeks after SP president Akhilesh Yadav also met Khan, underlining the party leadership’s continued engagement with its senior leader ahead of the UP polls.