Ex-MP Azam Khan criticises I.N.D.I.A. bloc, attracts call for expulsion

Rampur (UP): A rift became apparent in the Samajwadi Party, with jailed leader Azam Khan criticising the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for overseeing the "destruction" of Rampur, while a group seeking his resignation for allegedly driving a wedge within the party.

Khan in a letter that appeared on Tuesday accused the I.N.D.IA. bloc, of which SP is a part, of being a "silent spectator" to the supposed destruction of Rampur and failing to raise the issue with the same urgency as it had the Sambhal violence.

The former Azamgarh MP is currently lodged in Sitapur jail after being convicted in a fake birth certificate case.

He alleged that the alliance ignored the repression faced by Muslim leadership in Rampur and was complicit in undermining Muslim political power.

Khan warned that if Muslims' voting rights were disregarded or exploited, it would force the community to reconsider its political future.

"Rampur has been destroyed, and its Muslim leadership is being systematically eliminated," Khan said in his message written on the party's district president Ajay Sagar's letterhead.

"The I.N.D.I.A. alliance must clarify its position, as silence will lead Muslims to question whether their right to vote should remain or not," he said.

Mashkoor Ahmed Munna, the former district panchayat president of SP, wrote to Akhilesh Yadav demanding Khan's expulsion from the party.

Munna accused Khan of making the party's affairs personal and said his actions were creating divisions within the ranks.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, he called for bringing fresh leadership to Rampur, criticising Khan's leadership and claiming that the party's influence in the region had been severely undermined.

"There is no organisation in Rampur anymore. The party cannot thrive if everything is controlled by one individual and his family," Munna said. "We want to get rid of this monopoly."

Munna said a group of around 50 people from the party were planning to meet the party president to demand leadership change in the region.

Meanwhile, Ajay Sagar said the party members in Rampur were united and supported Azam Khan.

"Any party member can have their personal opinion. I have not come across any such demands from the party unit in the district," he said.