Yogi says Akhilesh wants Azam behind bars, jailed SP leader’s wife hits back

Earlier in the day, in a recorded interview of the CM to news agency ANI, Yogi Adityanath said Yadav did not want Azam Khan to come out of prison as it would pose a threat to his position.

Tanzeem Fatima, wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, on Monday hit out at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the latter’s comments about party chief Akhilesh Yadav not wanting her husband to come out of jail.

Khan, who has over 70 cases lodged against him, including that of extortion and forgery charges, has been lodged in the Sitapur Jail since February 2020. (PTI file photo)

"This is wrong. The CM gives a lot of wrong statements. This is one of them. He (Azam Khan) always faces oppression in the state,” Fatima was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

She also expressed confidence about Khan;s victory in Rampur even while contesting from behind the bars. “The people of Rampur are with him. He will win with more votes than earlier,” she said.

Earlier in the day, in a recorded interview of the CM to news agency ANI, Adityanath said Yadav did not want Azam Khan to come out of prison as it would pose a threat to his position. Hitting out at the SP president for trying to manipulate the narrative, Yogi said not the government, but the courts deal with such cases.

Khan, who has over 70 cases lodged against him, including that of extortion and forgery charges, has been lodged in the Sitapur Jail since February 2020.

In a recent hearing, the Supreme Court refused to grant any relief to Khan, after the veteran politician sought bail to campaign in the ongoing Assembly election.

The Samajwadi Party has named Khan and his son Abdullah as candidates for Rampur and Suar Assembly constituencies, respectively.

Abdullah was given bail from the Sitapur jail last month after spending almost 23 months behind the bars. He was booked in 43 cases.

Upon his release, Abdullah said the ruling camp hatched a conspiracy to put him in jail in a fake case. He also spoke about policemen not doing enough to ensure his security.

"The police are with BJP, two governments are with BJP. I am alone. I have no one with me. I don't even trust the policemen who are with me. Police can shoot me...They are not deployed for my security," Khan had said on January 28.

Voting is currently underway for the second phase of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. As many as two crore voters spread across 55 constituencies will decide the fate of 586 candidates.

(With agency inputs)