SP makes outreach bid as anti-Akhilesh sentiment grows

The political potboiler in Uttar Pradesh is brewing as the discontent against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav seems to grow.

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Friday met SP leader Azam Khan, who is lodged in the Sitapur jail.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes soon after he dared Akhilesh Yadav to throw him out of the SP legislature party if he believed that Shivpal was with the ruling BJP.

According to a report in The Indian Express, a posse of senior leaders have now been lined up to visit miffed Azam Khan in jail, in a bid to pacify him.

Yadav's jail visit came after Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary, an SP ally, met Khan's family in Rampur.

Read | Shivpal Yadav meets Azam Khan in Uttar Pradesh jail

The growing camp against Akhilesh could become a pain point as he counters the Yogi-led BJP in the state as Azam Khan has accused Akhilesh of sidelining him, and that he has been ignoring the Muslim community even though it voted for the SP.

When reporters waiting for the PSPL leader outside the jail asked him if he was with Khan or Akhilesh Yadav, he said, “I am with Azam and Azam is with me."

Shivpal Yadav, who won the recent Assembly elections on an SP ticket, has been close to the BJP, even holding meetings with Yogi Adityanath.

When asked if Azam Khan would join Shivpal's camp, Shivpal suggested "when the time comes, these decisions will be made."

If sides are switched, Azam Khan's loss to Samajwadi Party will leave a gaping hole in its target to keep the Muslim vote bank in its fold especially when the main criticism against Yogi has been his inability to strike any chord with Muslims.

(With agency inputs)

Check out the latest DH videos here: