A key element of the career of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has been his long-held rivalry with the Nawabs of Rampur. With the nomination of his son, Abdullah Azam (27), as the SP’s candidate from Swar-Tanda (Rampur), that tussle is set to get a re-run in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Abdullah is the challenger to Kazim Ali Khan, the present titular Nawab of the Rampur royal family and incumbent MLA from Swar-Tanda, winning four consecutive terms. His father, Zulfiqar Ali Khan, and mother, Noor Bano, are former MPs from Rampur and the family has tremendous clout in the district.
So when young Abdullah got the ticket from Swar-Tanda, many analysts wondered why the senior Khan had picked a tough seat for his son’s political debut.
“Many people called it stupid. Analysts said it was political suicide. I say, what’s the fun from a safe seat,” Abdullah asks. He uses the same argument to dismiss talks of dynasty politics. “If it was about promoting dynasty, would I not be fighting from a safe seat?”
Campaign on
Abdullah has already kicked-off his campaign. His plank is two-fold: to promote the SP government’s development work in the constituency, while pitching hard to the electorate the historical neglect and underdevelopment of the place under the Nawabs.
He is scathing in his criticism of Kazim Ali Khan, whom he calls a symbol of feudalism and slavery. “All development in the constituency was done under the SP government. Naved Mian (Kazim Ali Khan) did not do any work. He has been winning on his family’s name. He spends four years out of five abroad ... the Nawabs only want to glorify their names with the tag of an MLA or MP,” Abdullah says.
Azam Khan started off his career in the 1980s defeating a candidate supported by the royal family and over the years he has pitched candidates against the royal family members, while himself winning from Rampur eight times.
Confident of win
Kazim Ali Khan, however, is not perturbed. Though his vote chunk and winning margin have been decreasing over the years, he remains confident. Earlier this year, he shifted ranks from the Congress to the BSP, which is expected to bring him additional Dalit support. He accuses Azam Khan of using his political clout and machinery of the SP government to draw crowds and pressure locals for his son’s campaign.
