Azam Khan on star campaigners’ list: SP pooh-poohs criticism
LUCKNOW : Even as some people have raised eyebrows over the name of jailed Member of Parliament Azam Khan in the Samajwadi Party (SP) list of star campaigners for the UP assembly by-polls, the party has termed the criticism ‘immature’.
“Azam Khanji is sitting MP. He is not convicted and has not faced any disqualification. There is nothing wrong if he is on the list. It is a different matter if he campaigns or can campaign. If he comes out of jail on bail or otherwise, he can campaign,” said Samajwadi Party state spokesperson and former minister Rajendra Chaudhary.
Another party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, who also teaches law in a university, went into more legal aspects, saying: “Political parties’ lists of star campaigners are made and approved under Section 77 of People’s Representation Act, 1951 that does not lay down any qualification or disqualification for campaigners. Azam Khanji is sitting MP. Even in case of conviction, as per Section 8 (3) of R P Act, 1951, if a person is convicted of any offence and sentenced to an imprisonment of 2 years or more, this will be a disqualification to contest elections. So, a person who has faced conviction of fewer than two years can contest elections. So if a person who is qualified to contest the election and is a member of Parliament, what is the problem if he is a star campaigner?”
On October 20, the SP released names of its star campaigners, including chief patron of the party, Mulayam Singh Yadav (who is currently undergoing Covid treatment in a private hospital in Gurgaon) and the national general secretary, Azam Khan who is currently behind bars. The by-polls are scheduled on seven seats on November 3.
The constituencies where people will vote on November 3 are: Malhani (Jaunpur), Tundla
(Firozabad), Bulandshahr, Naugawan Sadat (Amroha), Ghatampur (Kanpur City), Bangarmau (Unnao) and Deoria. Of these, Malhani was held by the Samajwadi Party and the other six seats were held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Samajwadi Party has fielded candidates on six seats and left the Bulandshahr seat for it’s ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
When asked why the party put Azam on the list, a senior party colleague of Azam Khan replied: “To reflect his status in the party. He is an eminent leader of the party and in the country. We know that Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), party vice president Kiranmony Nanda (who is in Kolkata), Azam Khan, or Akhilesh Yadav ji might not campaign at all for the by-polls. But can they not be on the list?”.
An election commission officer said: “EC releases the lists to districts and star campaigners have to get permission for campaign from the respective district administration/police and in this case also jail administration.”
Others on the SP star campaigners’ list are national chief general secretary, Ramgopal Yadav who issued the party’s star campaigners’ list, leader of the opposition in UP assembly Ramgovind Chaudhary, national general secretary Indrajeet Saroj and state presi
dent, Naresh Uttam Patel.
Azam Khan is currently in Sitapur jail. The troubles for Azam started in 2017 when the BJP came to power in UP. Just a few months after the election, 10 cases were lodged against Azam Khan in revenue board by the then district magistrate of Rampur for procuring 104 acre of land belonging to people of Schedule Caste ‘against rules’. The troubles escalated in 2019 when over 70 cases were lodged against Azam Khan and his family members for forgery, theft, extortion and other crimes within a few months. Majority of the cases lodged against Khan pertained to encroachment on land, allegedly usurped for the construction of Jauhar University, of which Azam Khan is chairman. Azam was also accused of stealing old books from government schools and keeping them in the varsity library.
Acting on the compliant, police raided Mumtaz library inside Jauhar Ali University and recovered over 2,000 old books from there. Considering the number of cases against him, the district administration also named him land mafia in Rampur. Eventually, in February this year Azam along with wife and Abdullah Azam surrendered before an MP-MLA court in Rampur. On the court’s order, the trio was later shifted to Sitapur jail.