JOIN USAll parties trying to woo Azam Khan in Uttar Pradesh
Ever since jailed veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's disillusionment with party chief Akhilesh Yadav came out in the public domain, several political parties, including the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), have got down to wooing him. The idea is to weaken the Samajwadi Party, whose Muslim following could get grievously dented if Azam Khan, who was among the party's founders, were to switch loyalties.
Starting with former Samajwadi Party stalwart Shivpal Yadav, other prominent political leaders trying to win over Azam Khan are AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and alleged mafia don-turned-BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. While Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary also went over to Rampur to call on Azam Khan's wife and son, he was seen as an emissary of Akhilesh Yadav, with whom Azam Khan is understood to be unhappy.
In a politically volatile Uttar Pradesh, where Azam Khan was always seen as the Muslim face of the Samajwadi Party, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a tirade against him. Dozens of criminal cases were lodged against him, following which he has been behind bars for nearly two years now. He won the recently concluded state Assembly election from Rampur, his hometown, from jail. This was the tenth occasion he got elected from Rampur. His son Abdullah Azam won the election from a neighbouring constituency.
Right from "land grabbing" to "goat stealing", different criminal charges were levelled against him. The government has been pursuing each of the cases so vigorously that he has not been able to get bail. However, his son Abdullah Azam, who was also booked with him in some cases, managed to get bail just before the election.
Why this co-founder of the Samajwadi Party, who always stood solidly behind the party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, has not been able to get any reprieve from the prison is an intriguing question. But questions have been raised against the SP leadership and Akhilesh Yadav for his alleged indifference towards this party veteran. A hotly debated issue has been the outburst by Azam Khan's close aide Fasahat Ali Khan, who pointedly accused Akhilesh Yadav of not making the desired effort to help him get bail from the court.
Significantly, no sooner than Fasahat Ali Khan levelled this charge, there was a stream of reactions from the most unexpected quarters. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary called on Azam Khan's wife and son at their Rampur residence. Initially, Chaudhary was seen as an emissary of Akhilesh Yadav, considering that the two had contested the 2022 election as allies. However, shortly after that, speculation was rife that the young Jat leader was seeking Azam Khan's switch over to his party.
Close on the heels, Akhilesh Yadav's uncle and estranged SP leader Shivpal Yadav drove down from Lucknow to Sitapur jail, where Azam Khan is lodged. That was followed by overt sympathies being showered by none other than senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha member Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Owaisi has been sending repeated feelers to the jailed SP strongman to join his party, which is essentially engaged in playing up the politics of Muslims. Owaisi has been moving heaven and earth over the past year to project himself as a true messiah of the minority community. His efforts went in vain during the recently concluded state Assembly elections, where the AIMIM's performance remained miserable, essentially because he got branded as a "BJP agent". Yet it would be pertinent to mention that he dented the Samajwadi Party in a few constituencies, where the SP lost with a slender margin.
That Azam Khan is cut up with Akhilesh Yadav became evident when he refused to give audience to an old and devout SP leader Ravidas Mehrotra, who drove down 100 km from Lucknow to Sitapur jail to see him.
Meanwhile, refuting reports of a visible rift between Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan, SP spokesperson Abbas Haider claimed, "All kinds of lies are being spread by those who intend to harm our party; the fact remains that our party president did call on Azam sahib who is among the top leaders of the party." He said that Akhilesh Yadav also provided the best legal assistance besides taking up the issue with UP CM Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But Azam Khan has been in jail since February 2020, and the government has vehemently opposed his bail applications.
(Sharat Pradhan is a journalist and author based in Lucknow)
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