The outcomes of the bypolls will not have any impact on the central or the state governments as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority at both levels.
Tag: Rampur
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Uttar Pradesh elections: Rampur’s fierce battle centres around Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan
Express News Service
RAMPUR (UTTAR PRADESH): One of the most keenly anticipated contests in Uttar Pradesh is taking place in the Muslim-dominated seat of Rampur, where jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan is up against Congress’ Kazim Ali Khan and BJP’s Akash Saxena.
What lends an edge to this contest is how Kazim and Saxena are trying to corner the nine-time MLA, and arguably the tallest Muslim leader in the state, Azam Khan. In fact, as one travels around Rampur, it can be seen that all poll-related conversations are polarised around just one subject – Azam Khan.
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Against him pitted is his old rival Kazim Ali Khan, son of the last Nawab of Rampur, whose parents won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat seven times on Congress ticket. The other contender, Saxena, also has a history with Azam, as his father, former BJP minister Shiv Bahadur Saxena, lost the Assembly polls from this seat to Azam Khan way back in 1989. Saxena, a lawyer, is responsible for more than half of the cases filed against the SP leader.
During his poll campaign 46-year-old Saxena boasts about filing 30 of the over 100 FIRs against the SP veteran while Kazim claims he is the one who is to be credited for exposing Azam. “Saxena may have followed up on a few cases but people of Rampur know that I am the one who filed the very first complaint and exposed the many frauds and crimes of Azam Khan and his family,” Kazim says.
He adds that Azam Khan’s “so-called development was only for himself”.
According to retired government employee Ramesh Pandey, this election is about development and good law-and-order brought about by Yogi Adityanath versus Azam Khan’s work in Rampur. “It is true that Azam Khan brought unparalleled development to Rampur but we have to think holistically this time,” Pandey says.
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Panwesi Lal, who works at a shoe shop, has a different view. “Rampur is way ahead in development compared to other places in UP so, Azam Khan has to be brought to power again,” he said.
Lal’s co-worker Ashok Kumar agrees but says Azam Khan’s absence from campaigning has made things difficult for the SP leader, so much so that he could lose his seat for the very first time.
Lal doesn’t let Kumar finish his argument and points to the e-rickshaw going past saying, “Doesn’t matter that Azam Khan is in jail but people like those who got jobs through e-rickshaws are there to vouch for him.”
Many in Rampur agreed with Lal’s view. Fahim Khan, a lawyer in the city, said, “Azam Khan’s absence will only bring more votes for Khan as his work is there for everyone to see.”
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Akhilesh Yadav begins 350 km cycle yatra from Rampur in support of Azam Khan
Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav on Friday embarked on a 350-km ‘cycle yatra’ from Ali Jauhar University of Rampur to express solidarity with his party’s beleaguered MP Azam Khan.Rampur is the parliamentary constituency of Azam Khan who has been languishing in jail for over a year now in connection with a number of cases.
While commencing the yatra, the SP chief gave the clarion call for Mission 2022. He expressed the confidence that the changing wheels of the cycle would bring about the change in the dispensation in the state in Assembly elections next year.
He claimed that every time the ‘Samajwadis’ hit the roads on bicycles they changed the government in Uttar Pradesh.
“After we took to streets on cycles across the state in 2011, the government fell,” the SP chief said addressing a gathering of party workers in Rampur.
On Saturday, state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel is scheduled to flag off the cycle yatra from Ambedkar Park, Rampur, which will reach Lucknow on March 21 after passing through different districts.
Taking a jibe at UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh said that if the state had to be changed for good, first the CM should change himself as he was drawing credit for all the schemes which were introduced during the SP regime.
Commenting on the encounter policy of the BJP government, the SP chief said: “The government knows only one language – thok do. What can be expected from those who believe in such a policy? How can you expect justice from them?”
Referring to the attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Yadav said, “There is no institution in Bengal left which has not been after her. See what happened, she got hurt. The leg was hurt because these people know that if there is an injury in the leg, no one will be able to campaign.”
He claimed that the day’s dispensation was framing such laws which would lead the country into the hands of private corporate houses. “The democracy is under threat. If democracy has to be saved, then UP will have to be saved and this will happen only if the present government is changed,” said Yadav.
He said there is a similarity between Congress with the BJP. “Without BJP, Congress can’t survive and vice-versa.
“So this time we will rope in smaller parties to stitch a pre-poll alliance. We will not talk to any big player,” said the SP supremo.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav assured the people of Rampur that once the Samajwadi Party government came to power, all the development works would be done. He reiterated that Azam Khan and his family would get justice from the judiciary.
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UP’s Rampur tense as cleric held over violence during 2019 anti-CAA stir
Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Tension gripped Rampur district in western UP after police arrested Shah Farhat Ahmad Jamali, a cleric associated with the famous Hafiz Shah Dargah, and three others on Saturday in connection with the anti-CAA violence on December 21, 2019.One person was killed and several others injured when people had indulged in stone-pelting at cops, vandalizing public property, and torched several vehicles on the call of Jamali as part of the protest against the CAA.
The police had issued notices to all those who were booked for rioting and inciting violence including Jamali. The cops had issued the notices on February 6 asking the rioters and inciters to record their statements. But Jamali, who heads Hafiz Shah Dargah, ignored the police notice and did not turn up to record his statement.
The police on Saturday raided the residences of Jamali and three others and arrested them. As per the police sources, Jamali had given the call for the violent protest to the members of his community.
After Jamali’s arrest, local Muslim clerics gave a call for protests at Dargah Hafiz Shah. A large contingent of the police force was deployed at the shrine and other sensitive areas to check any untoward incident.