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UP polls: Azam Khan moves SC, seeks interim bail to campaign
In his plea to the apex court, Azam Khan, who has been lodged in the Sitapur Jail since February 2020, said the Uttar Pradesh government has purposefully delayed three criminal cases to ensure that he is incarcerated during the assembly elections that will begin next month.
Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan has moved the Supreme Court, seeking an interim bail to campaign in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, news agency ANI reported on Saturday.
In his plea to the apex court, Azam Khan, who has been lodged in the Sitapur Jail since February 2020, said the Uttar Pradesh government has purposefully delayed three criminal cases to ensure that he is incarcerated during the assembly elections that will begin next month.
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Khan also said that he has secured bail in all other cases pending against him, but is not able to secure bail in the above three cases, ANI further reported.
Khan, the SP's leader from Rampur, has more than 70 cases lodged against him including extortion and forgery. Apart from being in the bad eyes of the law, Khan also has a history of making controversial and sexist remarks.
Saturday's plea by him comes a week after his younger son Abdullah Azam was given bail from the Sitapur jail on January 15, after almost 23 months of imprisonment.
Abdullah who was booked in 43 cases took a dig at the Yogi government after release and said the oppression will end after March 10.
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Meanwhile, another SP leader, Nahid Hasan, who has been in jail since January 15, will not contest from Kairana, after a UP court rejected his bail plea on Tuesday. The party has fielded Nahid's sister Iqra Hasan from his constituency.
Elections to 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting from February 10 and ending on March 7. The counting of votes and declaration of results will be on March 10.
The Samajwadi Party is eyeing a comeback after losing the throne in the 2017 elections. Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal in Mainpuri, which has been a stronghold of the SP since 1993.
