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No objection to SIR, but timing questionable: Azam Khan
Khan, a former MP and several-time MLA, arrived in Lucknow on Thursday evening and stayed at a private hotel in the Hazratganj area for personal work. He met Sibgatullah Ansari, elder brother of late mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and MLA Mannu Ansari, followed by a meeting with former minister and SP leader Abhishek Mishra.
Clarifying that he never had any objection to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan on Thursday said his only issue was with its timing. He further said it was sad that the Supreme Court had to intervene in the functioning of the Election Commission of India.
Khan, a former MP and several-time MLA, arrived in Lucknow on Thursday evening and stayed at a private hotel in the Hazratganj area for personal work. He met Sibgatullah Ansari, elder brother of late mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and MLA Mannu Ansari, followed by a meeting with former minister and SP leader Abhishek Mishra.
Speaking to media persons in Lucknow, the SP leader commented on the ongoing Bihar elections, saying, “Those who have weapons for animals have gone to ‘Jungle Raj’. I don’t have any security, hence I can’t go to ‘Jungle Raj’. However, it is disrespectful to call any state a ‘jungle’ and its people ‘junglee’. There is no place for such words in a democracy.”
On the issue of SIR, Khan said, “I will not say anything on it; there is no one to listen to. The Supreme Court had to make a decision on the working of a constitutional body. Why did this even happen? Have we lost the recognition to such a level that the Supreme Court had to intervene? I never had any objection to SIR, but its timing is questionable. Members of all political parties sit together and have tea and snacks. There is no clash or any such things. Votes of Indian citizens were not deleted or added by sitting in a particular building. This issue has been wrongly created.”
Reacting to BJP leader Giriraj Singh’s controversial remarks on burqa and identification of voters in Bihar, Khan said Khan said he does not take Singh or his statements seriously.
