Amid rumours of chasm, Azam Khan, Shivpal Yadav skip Samajwadi Party MLAs meeting

Azam Khan’s absence from the meeting called by the SP chief comes amid the speculations of his discontentment with Akhilesh Yadav. 

New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly session, veteran politicians Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav skipped the Samajwadi Party MLAs meeting called by party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday (May 22). As per SP leaders, Azam Khan, who was released from Sitapur district jail a few days back, is in Rampur and due to health reasons missed the MLAs meeting. "Both Azam Khan and his son Abdullah will be attending the session tomorrow. Azam will sit on left of Akhilesh Yadav and will raise issues regarding the BJP government," SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra was quoted as saying by PTI. 

Moreover, Khan’s son and MLA Abdullah Azam and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) chief Shivpal Yadav, who is SP MLA from Jaswant Nagar (Etawah), also remained absent from the meeting held at the SP headquarter in Lucknow. On Shivpal Yadav’s skipping the meet, Mehrotra said, "Though he won on the SP election symbol (bicycle), he is head of a party. Earlier also he had not attended a meeting."

Azam Khan’s absence comes amid the speculations of his discontentment with Akhilesh Yadav. His media in-charge Fasahat Ali Khan had accused the SP chief of ignoring Khan while he was lodged in jail and also the Muslim community. He had alleged that the former UP Chief Minister met the Rampur MLA only once and made no attempt for his release in the past 27 months. Khan, who had 89 cases against him and got bail in 88 of them, walked out of jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted interim bail a day earlier in a case of cheating regarding Rampur’s Kotwali police station. He was greeted by Shivpal Yadav and many of his supporters outside the jail. 

Notably, the rumors of his dejection were strengthened when he did not meet SP leader Ravidas Mehrotra in jail but met Congress leader Pramod Krishnam a day later. 

(With agency inputs)