UP polls: Shivpal Yadav ready to induct jailed SP MP Azam Khan into his party; seeks unity

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Yadav expressed willingness to induct jailed SP MP Azam Khan into his party. Elected to the Rampur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Khan was arrested in February 2020 in connection with a forgery case. While the former UP Minister was granted bail by the Supreme Court, he continues to languish in the Sitapur Jail pertaining to cases of money laundering and amassing property using unaccounted money.

Shivpal Yadav remarked, "He is in SP. I am in Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party. I have spoken in his favour. They are taking revenge against him. I am ready (to induct him)." 

"We are trying that all secular and like-minded parties should become one. Because it will be easier to remove BJP", he added. Earlier on October 23, he told Republic Media Network that SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav would campaign for him if Akhilesh Yadav doesn't agree to an alliance with the former. 

Shivpal Yadav explained, "I have been trying to (forge an alliance with SP) for the last many days. I tried even during the Lok Sabha election. At that time, I didn't even demand a single seat. I just said that the entire Samajwadi family should become one. In order to defeat BJP, we told them that our winning candidates should be respected. I should be respected."

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) had called me and Akhilesh. He said that we should become one and fight the elections together. I was ready and told Akhilesh to heed Netaji's advice. Netaji said that if his advice falls on deaf ears, he will campaign for me," he elaborated. Moreover, he mentioned that his party had finished poll-related preparations in all 75 districts of the state.

Shivpal Yadav eyes success in UP polls

At present, Shivpal Yadav is the MLA from the Jaswantnagar Assembly constituency from where he has been winning since 1996. Since leaving SP, he has been heading the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia)- a party that he formed on August 29, 2018. Sources told Republic TV that the SP chief and Shivpal Yadav will share the stage for the celebration of Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday on November 22 paving the way for rapprochement. In the 2017 polls, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas the SP-Congress alliance came a distant second with 54 seats.