SP Leader Azam Khan
Uttar Pradesh’s Samajwadi Party government was plunged into crisis on Tuesday afternoon as speculations of the resignation of party strongman and rabble rouser Azam Khan spread like wildfire.
Khan, MLA from Rampur and cabinet minister apparently sent his resignation letter to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after a tiff with Yadav’s father and Samajwadi supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
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Sources told newsworldindia.in that an upset Khan confronted Mulayam in Lucknow on Monday after the Bihar election results, ostensibly for pulling out of the Grand Alliance in Bihar. He even questioned Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s leadership, sources said.
Though independent sources refused to confirm the resignation story, a cabinet minister close to Azam Khan told newsworldindia.in that Khan was also miffed with the inclusion of several new ministers who are said to be close to Amar Singh, once party’s blue eyed boy and Khan’s bête noir.
Last Week, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav inducted 12 new faces in his ministry and promoted eight ministers, the biggest revamp exercise since coming to power in the state.
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Five cabinet ministers, eight Ministers of State with Independent charge and seven Ministers of State were administered oath by Governor Ram Naik at Raj Bhawan.
Sources said that most of the ministers inducted in the cabinet are close to the former leader Amar Singh, an arch-rival of Azam Khan.
The induction of new ministers, though opposed by Azam Khan, created a political storm within the Samajwadi party and once again old rivalry between Khan and Singh came to fore.
Differences between Azam Khan and Amar Singh is an open secret in Uttar Pradesh politics. While Azam had been expelled from the party in 2010 allegedly at the behest of Amar Singh, the latter was also shown the door by the party in 2010. The year, however, saw the return of Azam into the SP fold. With Amar Singh out of the way and the SP’s victory in the 2012 Assembly elections, Azam was virtually No. 2 in the SP until the new reports surfaced.
Soon after being sacked from Party, Amar Singh floated a new political outfit called Rashtriya Lok Manch. In the 2012 assembly elections, he had fielded candidates on 360 seats. All of them ended up forfeiting their deposits.
Amar Singh later joined Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and contested the 2014 General Elections from Fatehpur Sikri parliamentary constituency but lost badly. He also tried to revive his old connections with the Congress and also knocked the doors of the BJP but nothing materialised in his favour.
However in July this year a rising bonhomie was seen between Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and sacked party leader Amar Singh during Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s iftaar party. The closeness lead to the speculations of his return to the party fold. Curiously enough, Azam Khan gave the party a miss.
According to the reports, Amar Singh has had many meetings with Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav in the recent past. The closeness between the Mulayam and Amar Singh created revolt in Azam Khan camp, who finally has offered to resign. Analysts say that Azam Khan’s exit from the party will be a huge setback for the party’s muslim vote bank, which Khan has managed to favour SP all these years.
Meanwhile, Azam Khan rejected the reports of his resignation, saying he has no differences with party or Amar Singh.