'I never meet anyone on the sly': Mayawati negates buzz over Azam Khan joining BSP

Azam Khan, who had earlier said, "main bikau nahi hoon (my loyalty can't be traded)", reiterated his commitment to the SP, of which he is a founding member.

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday said she does not meet anyone on the sly and prefers meeting people openly, a remark that was ostensibly aimed at negating the buzz about the possibility of arch rival Samajwadi Party's most prominent Muslim face Azam Khan joining her party.

Though the suspense over Khan's next political move was over on Wednesday itself, with Khan, out on bail after 23 months in jail, warmly welcoming his party chief Akhilesh Yadav at his Rampur home, this was the first time Mayawati touched on the subject, though in a veiled manner.

"Since last month, the rumour about a senior leader from another party joining the BSP has been spread. It was also said that the said leader had already met the BSP chief at Delhi and Lucknow. But as of now, I have no knowledge about any such meeting," Mayawati said during her impressive Lucknow rally on Thursday.

"I never meet anyone on the sly; whenever I have to meet anyone, I do so openly," she said as her supporters cheered her on.

Azam's rumoured BSP switch had gained traction on social media as it had overlapped with developments that suggested Khan was unhappy with the SP leadership for not doing enough for him and his beleaguered family during his incarceration.

In June, when Khan was in jail, Akhilesh Yadav had cited "courts and divine intervention" among the options left before the veteran leader to get justice after Azam's wife and former MP Tazeen Fatima had said no one else except "God" was her family's only hope, fuelling fresh rumours.

The other issue was Khan's reported unhappiness over the candidature of Mohibbullah Nadvi as the candidate from his home turf Rampur and among the 37 Lok Sabha seats the SP won in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

This was the premise on which the buzz of Khan looking to shift loyalties, along with his existing substantial Muslim support base in and around Rampur, to the BSP was based.

But on Wednesday, MP Mohibbullah, was not present when the SP chief met Khan in Rampur. This was interpreted as the party leadership's ploy to keep the mercurial Khan in good humour, barely a day ahead of Mayawati's Lucknow rally.

In Rampur, Khan, who had earlier said, "main bikau nahi hoon (my loyalty can't be traded)", reiterated his commitment to the SP, of which he is a founding member.

"Where else will I go now?" Khan told reporters in Rampur even as Mayawati went hard at the SP in her Lucknow rally, while preferring to go soft on the BJP.