Political vendetta, says SP; BJP rejects charge
LUCKNOW With the state government again turning the heat on Azam Khan, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Rampur, and his family, the SP has accused the government of engaging in political vendetta. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected the charge.
Azam, his wife Tazeen Fatima and their son Abdullah Azam are currently lodged in Sitapur jail in various cases ranging from forgery to extortion.
Recently, the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) has issued an order to demolish a resort owned by Azam’s wife and Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has served notice to Nikhat Akhlaq, a relative of Azam, for vacating the house in her possession in Riverbank Colony in Lucknow. SP legislators had vehemently raised the Azam issue, both inside and outside the legislature during its monsoon session recently. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has several times demanded release of Azam and his family.
On Sunday, SP spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said: “Many false cases have been filed against Azam by the Rampur administration to harass him. He has been a victim of political vendetta. Azam made tremendous contribution to the development of Rampur. He is credited with establishing a university. The victimisation of Azam and his family must stop. Elections may come and go but justice must prevail.” The election reference that Gandhi made was to Suar (Rampur) assembly constituency that fell vacant following Abdullah Azam’s disqualification as member over anomaly in his birth certificate.
BJP has described Azam as a ‘land shark’ and claimed that the law was being implemented in Rampur. UP BJP secretary Chandramohan said: “The administration is acting against ‘bhoo-mafia’ (land sharks) and I don’t think anyone should have any objection to this.”
BJP PUSH FOR RAMPUR
The BJP is desperate to make inroads in Rampur, a Azam bastion for long. “With Azam Khan saheb in jail, the BJP is doing its best to weaken his hold in Rampur and the political vendetta is so apparent. However, at the moment the stars are not in saheb’s favor. They (BJP) want to break him but as far as we know him, he has done nothing to be afraid of and he will come out of this unscathed,” an Azam aide said.
“They just don’t want to demolish his resort or properties. They want to demolish his political stature here and that is why he is in jail,” the aide, requesting anonymity, said.
Though BJP won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Rampur, in the subsequent 2017 UP polls, Azam Khan won his assembly seat comfortably for the ninth time and then followed it up with another impressive win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
His son Abdullah won the Swar assembly seat in 2017 UP polls. After Azam vacated his traditional Rampur assembly seat on becoming MP, his wife Tazeen Fatima, a former RS MP herself, got elected from the seat.
Now, with Abdullah disqualified as MLA, Swar, along with seven other assembly seats in UP, is due for by-poll. The BJP has bared its plans for the region with party general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal tasking the booth-level cadres in Rampur to make a dent in Khan’s bastion. BJP sources said that names of candidates most suited to contest from Swar are being discussed.