UP polls to Owaisi, why Akhilesh Yadav met Azam Khan in Rampur jail

After meeting veteran Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan in Rampur district jail Thursday, party president Akhilesh Yadav said, “Azam they, Azam hain aur Azam rahenge (Azam was, is, and will remain),” sending a message to the incarcerated leader’s followers, especially among the Muslim community, that he continues to regard him as an enduring party face.

The SP chief had earlier visited Rampur to meet Azam in early October last year, soon after the latter came out of jail on bail. Their last meeting took place on November 7, 2025, when Azam visited Akhilesh at his residence in Lucknow.

Their Thursday meeting assumes additional significance with the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections just four months away, even though Azam’s influence in state politics has dwindled in the last five years during which he has faced scores of cases besides multiple convictions and jail terms. It is however uncertain whether Azam or his son Abdullah Azam, who has also been in jail, would be able to contest the February 2027 elections.

The Rampur SP leaders cite two reasons for Akhilesh’s sudden visit to Azam’s home turf to meet him. One of them is related to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, while the second one is centred on the Azam-led SP faction in Rampur that remains intact even after the victory of party candidate Mohibullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the seat without his support.

Addressing an AIMIM rally in Rampur on October 18, Owaisi accused the SP chief of taking care of Yadavs while merely using Muslims for votes. He also expressed concern over Azam’s circumstances.

Owaisi claimed that “Bhaiyya” (Akhilesh) would stage a road blockade in Lucknow if a Yadav of Saifai is sent to jail for six months because “mera Yadav, Yadav hai”. “And if Abdul is in jail, Bhaiyya will ask him not to worry and vote for him after release,” he said.

“Owaisi factor cannot be ruled out. Akhilesh is hoping for consolidation of Muslims in favour of the SP-Congress alliance. But if Owaisi capitalised on sympathy for Azam and cut into Muslim votes, that will be an advantage for the BJP in Rampur and adjoining districts of western UP,” said an SP leader.

Another SP leader said, “Azam Khan is still the most popular Muslim leader in UP, and he is the minority face of our party. Rampur is an SP stronghold thanks to Azam. If his followers contest as rebels against the SP in Assembly polls, that can damage the prospects of SP-Congress alliance.”

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, however, said Akhilesh met Azam in the Rampur prison because he has an “emotional connection” with him. “Azam Khan ji is a respected figure for all of us. He has influence in Rampur and adjoining areas,” he said.

The SP’s Rampur district chief Ajay Sagar said, “Azam and Abdullah both are in Rampur jail and both are not eligible for contesting elections because of convictions. But both have appealed in the appropriate court praying for stay on conviction so that they can contest elections in 2027.” Azam’s wife Tazeen Fatima had met Akhilesh in Lucknow a few weeks ago.

“We are preparing for elections, organisationally. SP has so far not considered any candidate for Rampur and Suar seats. The candidates in both the seats would be decided by Azam Khan sahab. Rampur to Azam Khan sahab ka shahar hai (Rampur is Azam Khan’s city),” he said.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, Azam was elected as the MLA from Rampur for the 10th time, while his son Abdullah Azam was re-elected from the adjoning Suar seat.

A bypoll in Rampur was necessitated when Azam was disqualified as an MLA after being convicted by a cort in a 2019 hate speech case. The SP nominated Azam’s confidant Asim Raja in the December 2022 bypoll against the BJP’s Akash Saxena, who had lost the seat to Azam in the elections earlier that year. A complainant against the Azam family in several cases, Saxena clinched the bypoll.

In another setback for the Azam family, the BJP’s ally Apna Dal (Sonelal)’s candidate Shafeek Ahmad Ansari won the Suar seat, defeating the SP’s Anuradha Chauhan in the May 2023 bypoll. The seat was vacated by Abdullah after his disqualification as an MLA. These setbacks further shrunk the Azam family’s clout in Rampur district where, after winning Suar, the BJP-led NDA secured four of five Assembly seats.

However, a senior Muslim leader of the SP said the Azam family would not be able to have much impact on the 2027 polls. “As of now, Azam and Abdullah would not be able to contest. Tazeen Fatima cannot manage political activities by herself. And Azam does not want his younger son to join politics.”

The leader added, “SP’s Mohibbulla won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat despite opposition from Azam and his followers. If Muslims are with SP, that is enough for us.”

The 78-year-old SP national general secretary, Azam is among the party’s founder members. Even before the formation of the SP in 1992, Azam had been elected an MLA from Rampur four times – on the tickets of different parties including the Janata Party, Janata Dal, Lok Dal and Janata Party (Secular).

However, it was after SP founder president Mulayam Singh came to power that Azam’s popularity grew, with Mulayam making him a cabinet minister with multiple portfolios in all the three governments that he led as the chief minister.

After the SP’s win in the 2012 elections, when Mulayam’s son Akhilesh took charge as the CM, Azam’s pre-eminent position remained unchanged as he was allotted eight portfolios and was widely considered as one of the SP’s biggest leaders.