Bareilly: Alleging that Azam Khan scammed people of his community during the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) dispensation, Uttar Pradesh minister Ashok Kataria said Thursday the cases filed against the controversial leader were filed by those who he ‘cheated’ and not by BJP workers.
Azam Khan, the Lok Sabha MP from Rampur, is facing several police cases, including related to grabbing of land. Authorities have claimed the gate of his Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, established by Khan in 2006, is built on a government land.
“In the previous SP government, Azam Khan cheated people of his own community. Cases against him are filed by them and not BJP workers,” UP Transport Minister Ashok Kataria told reporters.
Kataria’s statement came after SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav accused the BJP government in UP of political vendetta against Azam Khan. In his first press conference in months, the 79-year-old Mulayam Singh Yadav said he could take the issue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I’ve not thought about it now. But, if needed, I will meet the PM to convey to him the injustice meted out to Azam Khan,” Mulayam said.
When asked Thursday whether Khan would be arrested, the Kataria did not give a definite reply. “It depends on the sections, the cases lodged against him,” Kataria said.
Over 80 cases have been filed against Azam Khan in Rampur. However, the SP leader has linked the action against him in the university cases to upcoming assembly by-polls in Uttar Pradesh.
PTI
