At Azam’s home, Akhilesh bats for Rampur MP

‘Will withdraw cases if we return to power’

In a show of solidarity, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav visited the residence of beleaguered senior party leader Azam Khan in Rampur on Saturday and met Mr. Khan’s wife Tanzeen Fatima, a Rajya Sabha member, who has been ailing for some time.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Yadav asserted that the Rampur administration was working with a “feeling of revenge” against the nine-time MLA and sitting MP from Rampur.

Mr. Yadav also said that if the party returned to power in the State, all the cases against Mr. Khan would be withdrawn.

The former U.P. CM said he was taking copies of all the FIRs with him.

“I will get them scrutinised and a high-level delegation of the party will meet the Governor.” In response to another question, Mr. Yadav said he had faith in the judiciary and was sure that Mr. Khan would get justice.

The SP leader recalled that the party’s patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had also faced many “motivated” cases in the past. However, he avoided a direct response to a query on the eviction of the Lohia Trust from a Lucknow bungalow on Saturday by the State’s property department on the orders of the Supreme Court. “Everybody knew that it belonged to Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). We were already getting it vacated.”

From goat theft to attempt to murder, more than four dozen cases have been filed against Mr. Khan. During his two-day visit, the SP chief stayed at Mr. Khan’s Humsafar resort, which, according to authorities, was allegedly built on government land. However, Mr. Khan remained conspicuous by his absence.

Asked why his party was not taking the government headed by Yogi Adityanath head-on, Mr. Yadav said while the SP was never afraid of hitting the road, to take on the BJP both “sangharsh (struggle)” as well as “sangathan (organisation)” were needed.

Taking the BJP government at the Centre to task, Mr. Yadav questioned its defence equipment procurement policy. Referring to the Rafale and Apache deals, he said the defence deals with foreign governments had “weakened” and put a question mark on the “make in India” policy of the government.