A Rampur court on May 25, 2023 acquitted Azam Khan in the 2019 hate speech case, the conviction in which had led to his disqualification from Assembly last year and resulted in a bypoll that was won by the BJP.

Azam and his family, including his son and wife, spent time in prison in connection with several cases of alleged land grabbing, cheating and criminal trespass, and in May last year the SP strongman got out of jail on bail but saw the party lose the Rampur Lok Sabha seat that he had won in 2019.

Born on August 14, 1948, in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, Azam Khan studied law at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and worked as a lawyer before entering politics.The 10-term MLA became associated with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav in the early days of his career and became the party’s tallest leader from the minority community. Though Azam Khan initially did not have much following among Muslims outside Rampur, Mulayam projected him and gave him a Cabinet berth with multiple portfolios in all three governments that he headed.

When Akhilesh Yadav formed the government in 2012 with an absolute majority, Azam maintained his clout in the state administration, holding eight portfolios. He was considered the party’s biggest leader after the then chief minister despite there being 10 ministers from the Muslim community in the government.

In 2013, there were reports of fissures between him and Akhilesh after he skipped the SP’s national executive meeting. He was reportedly upset with the government’s handling of the Muzaffarnagar riots. Later, Akhilesh went to Azam’s home to speak to him and patch things up. According to SP insiders, during the party’s time in power the postings and transfers of government officers in Rampur and adjoining districts — be it in the administration or the police — were done as per Azam Khan’s wishes.

But his influence, on the back of the ongoing legal proceedings against him, has been declining for quite some time now. Some SP insiders said his trusted aide Asim Raza Khan’s loss in the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll earlier this year indicated that Azam’s grip on Rampur was not like before. His health problems and Mulayam’s death earlier this month have compounded his problems as his position in the party is likely to weaken further given that his political mentor is no more. In many of the cases against him, the complainants are Muslims.