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His assertion of injustice false: Yogi Adityanath hits out at Azam Khan in Rampur
Rampur will no longer be a toy in the hands of opportunists, says chief minister Yogi Adityanath while campaigning for BJP candidate Akash Saxena
Taking a swipe at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan without naming him, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said he was paying for his misdeeds.
Azam Khan faces several cases and has spent time in jail but is currently out on bail.
Yogi Adityanath said an SP leader was continuously complaining that injustice was committed against him.
“The assertion here is false. An individual is being held accountable for misdeeds. It is inappropriate to hold the government and the party responsible for the decision the court is making it. He should take good care of himself,” the chief minister said at a rally in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Akash Saxena in Rampur where an assembly bypoll is scheduled for December 5.
Adityanath said he feels that “badzubani” (use of foul words) always leads to misery. He had made comments on women, constitutional institutions and also on the administration, the chief minister said attacking the SP leader.
Khan, who is campaigning across the constituency for SP nominee Asim Raja, has been alleging that the state government has lodged false cases against him.
“When the SP loses an election, it first blames the Election Commission, then EVMs (electronic voting machines), followed by the administration and police. However, it never blames its own actions,” the chief minister said.
“If you had repented for your action and sought an apology from the people, then it was possible that the public could have forgiven you,” he said referring to the SP’s losses in elections in the state after 2017.
Yogi Adityanath asserted that Rampur would no longer be a toy in the hands of those who tried to destroy the heritage of the place.
“Rampur won’t be a toy in the hands of opportunists who once tried to shut down a 200-year-old madrasa and turn it into their fief, those who wanted to steal the manuscripts and obliterate them,” Yogi Adityanath said.
He went on to say that there was an attempt to capture Rampur’s City Montessori where the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi used to stay.
“The SP captured the National Inter College here. Schools are the medium of learning and madrasas are the medium of education. Rampur’s cultural heritage, manuscript, were destroyed. They are being preserved by our government.”
In September, the Rampur police recovered rare books and manuscripts allegedly stolen from Raza Oriental College (Madrasa Alia) in 2019 from under the lift of a building on the premises of the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, run by a trust headed by Azam Khan.
Adityanath also said, “Repeated by-elections are obstructing the development of Rampur and I will appeal to all of you to free Rampur from the repeated bypolls and take it forward on the path of development”.
In June, a by-election was necessitated for the Rampur Lok Sabha seat after Khan resigned as MP on being elected an MLA. Now, voting will be held on December 5 for the Rampur Sadar assembly seat following Khan’s disqualification after a court in Rampur convicted and awarded him three years imprisonment in a 2019 hate speech case.
Khan won the Rampur Sadar seat in the 2022 assembly polls for 10th time in a political career spanning nearly five decades. He had won from the parliamentary constituency in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Continuing his attack on the SP, Adityanath said it will not mend its ways and improve. “Those whose habits have changed will take a long time to improve. But time improves everyone,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath said Rampur was once known for its fertile land, natural beauty and water resources. It also played a leading role in the freedom movement and the violins and knives made here have given it a global recognition, the chief minister said.
(WITH PTI INPUTS)
