Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Singh Yadav has stirred a massive row after he claimed that Azam Khan will be made the home minister of Uttar Pradesh if the party comes to power in the state following next year's assembly elections.
Shivpal made the statement while speaking to his supporters in Rampur on Wednesday.
"We need to defeat them and form a government of the Samajwadi Party, and make Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister... Azam Khan will be made the home minister," Shivpal said in a video clip that has gone viral on social media.
Azam Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh minister, remains in jail after being convicted in multiple cases. In May this year, he was sentenced to two years in jail over a controversial remark during the election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He was also fined Rs 5,000.
Shivpal said Azam is a victim of political vendetta and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of committing atrocities against him.
"Azam Khan has been a 10-time MLA and a two-time MP, while Abdullah Azam has been a two-time MLA, and his wife was also an MLA and a Rajya Sabha member. Despite holding all these positions, being senior leaders and public representatives, they still have so many false cases registered against them, with several criminal charges," he said.
Shivpal's remarks allowed the BJP to attack the Samajwadi Party, with party leader Dinesh Pratap Singh reminding that Khan is a convict in multiple cases. He also said Shivpal is 'daydreaming' if he thinks that the Samajwadi Party would be able to come to power in Uttar Pradesh.
However, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member Harendra Singh Malik defended Shivpal and said he only expressed his sentiments. "In the Samajwadi Party, things are stated plainly and without equivocation... The party condemns the turn of events regarding the investigation and stands by Azam Khan," Malik told news agency ANI.
Assembly elections are slated to be held in Uttar Pradesh in February or March next year.
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