RAMPUR/LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday met senior party leader Azam Khan at Rampur district jail, accusing the BJP government of targeting the veteran leader through false cases and alleging that his family had faced unprecedented injustice.“I have just met respected Azam Khan. Azam was, Azam is, and Azam will remain,” Yadav told reporters after meeting Khan, adding that false cases could not keep the truth imprisoned forever.According to news agency PTI, Yadav arrived at Rampur after landing at the Jauhar University helipad, where he was received by Khan’s family members and party workers, before proceeding to the district jail. He is also scheduled to visit Khan’s residence to meet his family.
‘Truth cannot be imprisoned’
Speaking after the meeting, Akhilesh alleged that Khan had been subjected to injustice through a series of false cases and accused the BJP of undermining education and knowledge.“No family, particularly no political family, has faced as much injustice as the family of respected Azam Khan,” he said.Questioning the cases against the veteran leader, Yadav said, “These false cases do not have the power to keep him imprisoned forever. It may take time… there may be some delay. But false cases do not have the power to keep the truth imprisoned.”He also criticised the alleged demolition of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, an institution associated with Khan, claiming that the action against it reflected a wider attack on education.“Our relationship with Rampur is political as well as emotional,” Yadav said, adding that his visit to the town was not the first.
‘Election gimmick’, says Rajbhar
A day earlier, Om Prakash Rajbhar described Akhilesh’s meet with Azam Khan an attempt to woo Muslim voters ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.“They are going today just to create an election gimmick. They are trying to secure Muslim votes with the help of Azam Khan. But Akhilesh Yadav has forgotten that Muslims will no longer spread the carpet for him,” Rajbhar said, according to news agency ANI.Rajbhar also accused Yadav of failing to visit Khan when he was previously lodged in jail, alleging that the cases against the senior SP leader had been registered during the former chief minister’s tenure.“He was in jail for so long, but Akhilesh never went to meet him,” Rajbhar said.BJP leader Narendra Kashyap also accused Yadav of political opportunism, claiming that the SP chief was seeking to use Khan’s political standing for electoral gains rather than genuinely supporting him.“What kind of strategy could Akhilesh Yadav possibly devise with someone who is currently incarcerated, facing nearly 100 criminal cases, including charges of corruption and document forgery?” Kashyap told ANI.He further alleged that Yadav was exploiting Khan because of his Muslim identity.
A long association
Azam Khan, a 10-time MLA from Rampur Sadar and former cabinet minister, has been among the SP’s most prominent Muslim leaders. He has been lodged in Rampur district jail since November last year following his conviction in a forgery case.Yadav has visited Khan in jail on previous occasions. In March 2024, shortly before the Lok Sabha elections, he met Khan at Sitapur jail to discuss political strategy and party candidates. He had also visited him in February 2020, when Khan, his wife and son Abdullah Azam were lodged there.On October 13, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Khan at Rampur jail as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation linked to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.The probe concerns the alleged diversion of government contract funds through private contractors and their subsequent use, including for the creation of assets linked to the trust and the university. The ED had earlier conducted searches at premises linked to Khan in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.Khan has also been sentenced to two years in prison in a case relating to alleged objectionable remarks about government officials during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.
SP sharpens political attack on BJP
The Rampur visit comes amid an intensifying political confrontation between the SP and the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.Yadav has recently accused the BJP government of electoral malpractice, alleging that Basic Shiksha Adhikaris (BSAs) and district inspectors of schools (DIOSs) were intimidating people and facilitating electoral manipulation. He has urged the Election Commission to ensure impartiality in the electoral process.The SP chief has also promised to regularise Shiksha Mitras as full-fledged teachers if his party returns to power, saying a separate budgetary provision would be made if necessary.(With agency inputs)
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