BJP candidate for the Rampur Sadar assembly bypoll Akash Saxena has said Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan has hoodwinked Muslims by showing them the "fear of the BJP" and considered their love for him as "slavery".
Son of former BJP MLA Shiv Bahadur Saxena, he is pitted against Mr. Khan's protege and SP candidate Asim Raja in the December 5 bypoll. The by-election was necessitated following the disqualification of Mr. Khan in the wake of he being convicted and sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a 2019 hate speech case.
Mr. Khan has hoodwinked Muslims showing them the "fear of the BJP" and misused their trust in a bid to become the "second Nawab" of Rampur, BJP candidate Mr. Saxena said and claimed Muslims are looking for a brighter future beyond communalism and have made up their mind to create history in this by-election.
"He considered the love of Rampur's Muslims as slavery and took it so far that he himself tried to become the 'second Nawab'. He tried to take everything from Muslims by showing them the fear of the BJP. By doing so he tried to enslave them politically," Mr. Saxena, an entrepreneur, told PTI in an interview.
The BJP leader said that "as a result, businesses in Rampur collapsed and the future of Muslim youths was ruined".
Former Rampur MP Begum Noor Bano belongs to the nawab family of the erstwhile Rampur state and her son Sayyid Kazim Ali Khan Bahadur is referred by the people as the current nawab of Rampur.
Chosen by the BJP to turn the apple cart of Mr. Khan, who has represented Rampur Sadar in the assembly 10 times, Mr. Saxena claimed that as far as the Muslims of Rampur are concerned, they are now talking about industry and employment leaving the SP leader's "Hindu-Muslim issue".
"The way we are getting the support of youngsters, it signals that Muslims here have made up their minds to create history. The result of the Rampur bypoll (on December 8) will be historic and it will decide the direction and condition of the country," he said.
The BJP candidate claimed that earlier Rampur used to come second in the state in terms of industries but this was ruined during Mr. Khan's leadership of over four decades.
Highlighting the BJP's concept of "double engine" government -- at the Centre and in the state, he said that Rampur will be again developed as an industrial city.
"Muslims also need employment and hope for a good future. The Rampur by-election is a golden opportunity for Muslims to break the shackles of slavery and move forward towards a new future under the leadership of the BJP," he said and appealed to voters to ensure his party's victory.
Muslims form around 60 per cent of the electorate in the Rampur Sadar assembly constituency, according to poll observers.
Mr. Saxena also hit out at Mr. Khan over his statement at an election rally in Nalapar on November 28.
Referring to the Muslim community, Mr. Khan had said 'Abdul' is no longer with him and has joined hands with the BJP. So, now when the December 8 results come out, 'Abdul' will mop the floor for the BJP, he had said.
Hitting out at Mr. Khan for his statement against people leaving his side and joining the BJP, Mr. Saxena said, "Khan should only worry about his Abdul." "His statement reflects his intentions about the status of Abdul in his eyes. What is the respect of Abdul in our place, we will answer that in the coming time. He should not worry about our Abdul," he said.
"Whatever he is doing is his recorded statement. Everything is scripted. This is the recorder he keeps playing in every election. There have been about five elections (including bypolls) in five years and this has been the work of Khan in every election, but now people are not going to listen to his words," said Mr. Saxena, whose father was a five-time MLA from Rampur Swar and considered close to former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.
"The people of Rampur have given 50 years to Mr. Khan, I want them to give me just 50 months and see. If they are not satisfied with my work, then defeat me in the next assembly elections. I will not have any complaints," he said.
Mr. Saxena, who is a complainant in most of the cases registered against Mr. Khan, had lost to him in the February-March assembly polls.
To a question related to the BJP's focus on backward Pasmanda Muslims, he said Rampur has a large population of Pathan voters and Pasmanda is that class which no one used to talk about. See the misfortune of Rampur that even after having around 2.5 lakh Pathans, today a large population of them comes under the category of economically backward, he claimed.
Most of the backward Muslims of Rampur stayed with Mr. Khan for the last four decades but did not even get respect in return, Mr. Saxena said.
"The honour of Muslims is safe only under the BJP's rule," he said reiterating BJP's commitment to "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas".
