‘Not For Sale’: Azam Khan, Out On Bail, Reaffirms Loyalty To SP, Dismisses BSP Switch Rumours – Delhi News Daily

Azam Khan had been behind bars since October 2023. (File image: PTI)

Senior leader of Samajwadi Party (SP), Azam Khan, who was released from Sitapur jail two days ago after almost 23 months, on Thursday reiterated his allegiance to his party. He said, “(SP chief) Akhilesh (Yadav) is to me what he was to Mulayam ji.” Back in his Rampur home, he added: “I have a character, and I have shown that it is not for sale.”

Dismissing the speculations of his possible switch to BSP, the former UP cabinet minister said, “I may be a fool, but not that dumb. There is no doubt, I’ll remain with the party.”

Rumours about the SP veteran possibly joining his longtime rival Mayawati’s party intensified after reports surfaced that his wife, former MP Tazeen Fatima, had met the BSP leader in Delhi, and that Khan could attend the party’s ‘mega’ rally in Lucknow on October 9.

The BSP, however, has so far stayed noncommittal on the issue, with the party’s only sitting MLA, Uma Shankar Singh, stating he was unaware of any such meeting. He did note, however, that Khan’s joining the party would be a boost for it.

According to the experts, if Khan were to join the BSP, the move might help the party reclaim influence among certain sections of Muslim voters, particularly in parts of Western UP. Meanwhile, the president of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), Chandrashekar Azad, said that he will meet Khan soon, the Times of India reported.

Khan’s legal troubles started in February 2020, when he, along with his wife Tazeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam, surrendered in Rampur in connection with a forged birth certificate case. In the ensuing years, he faced several other charges, including forgery, land grabbing, and theft.

He was convicted of hate speech and sentenced to three years in prison in October 2022, disqualifying him from the UP assembly. After spending months in jail, he secured interim bail from the Supreme Court in May 2022.

His second imprisonment began in October 2023, when a court in Rampur sentenced him, his wife and son to seven years in the forged certificate case. While his family secured their release in 2025, Khan remained behind bars, contending with new convictions and acquittals.

These included a 10-year sentence in a 2016 house eviction case, bail in theft-related charges, and an acquittal in a 2008 protest case. Having been sentenced in six cases, he has now been granted bail in all, though several other cases are still pending trial.