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Updated April 29th, 2022 at 08:21 IST

Akhilesh Yadav cools down talks of rift with Azam Khan; says 'been supportive since day 1'

Amid reports of a growing distance with jailed Azam Khan, Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday reiterated that he has been supporting the senior leader from day one.

Reported by: Vidyashree S
Akhilesh Yadav
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Amid reports of a growing distance with jailed veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday reiterated that he has been supporting the senior leader from day one and will continue to support him further.

“I have been supporting Azam Khan from the first day. We will continue to support him.,” Akhilesh told media persons. 

Recently, Fasahat Ali Khan, a close aide of Azam Khan, had accused Akhilesh of “ignoring” the former party MP and maintaining silence on issues concerning the Muslim community. Following this, many political leaders, including Congress and BJP, visited the Sitapur jail where Khan is currently lodged. SP’s ally and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary also surprised many with his visit to Rampur to meet Azam’s wife and son.

Azam had recently refused to meet SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra in jail who said he was sent to meet the leader by Akhilesh. The SP chief had, however, distanced himself from the visit.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the loudspeaker row and said, "UP government will not run bulldozers on real mafia... Do you have the names of the top 10 mafias today? Out of them, 8 will belong to BJP. Bulldozer is being run on Muslims".

Azam Khan wins elections

In UP, Azam Khan was always seen as the Muslim face of the Samajwadi Party and further, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a tirade against him. He has been behind bars for nearly two years now after dozens of criminal cases were lodged against him. He won the recently concluded state Assembly election from his hometown Rampur for the tenth time, from jail. Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam won the election from a neighbouring constituency.

Different criminal charges, right from land grabbing to goat stealing, were levelled against him. However, he has not been able to get bail as the government has been pursuing each of the cases so vigorously.

However, his son Abdullah Azam managed to get bail just before the election despite being booked with his father in some cases.

(Image: PTI)

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Published April 29th, 2022 at 08:21 IST

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