Rampuri knives out: Yadav tears into Khan

“I trusted him,but Khan has betrayed us by opposing the party at a crucial juncture. He should have campaigned for Jaya Prada but he is spewing venom against her,” Yadav said at an election meeting at Swar Tanda,30 km from Rampur city.

The SP chief was provoked by the black flags fluttering atop the local party office at Swar Tanda,which was seen as the handiwork of Khan who controls the local unit of the party. “You must give a befitting reply to those involved in conspiracy against the Samajwadi Party and its candidate Jaya Prada,” Yadav told the gathering where tempers ran high against Khan.

Slogans were raised against the rebel SP leader in the meeting but no leader present on the dais made any attempt to silence the crowd. Khan’s photograph was also conspicuously missing from the posters and banners put around the venue.

“Azam Khan’s conduct is detrimental to the interests of the party. I am unable to understand why he is against Amar Singh and Jaya Prada. If he has any grouse,he should fight with me as I decided on Jaya Prada name for Rampur,” said Yadav. “Jaya Prada was reluctant to contest from Rampur but it was Azam Khan who insisted on her name and had also given the guarantee of her victory.”

Referring to the public spat between Khan and Amar Singh,the SP chief said,“What kind of unhappiness is this? Azam Khan seems to be jealous of Jaya Prada,for which there is no solution.”

Abu Asim Azmi,the SP leader from Mumbai who also addressed the meeting,demanded the expulsion of Khan from the party. Lashing out at him,Azmi said: “I don’t want to spoil my tongue by uttering his name. If he had any grievance against me,he should have spoken to me like a mard (man) but he is a hijra (eunuch) who preferred to attack and damage my vehicles through his hired goons.”

Khan was restrained on Yadav but minced no words against expelled BJP leader Kalyan Singh,whose newfound proximity with the SP chief led Khan to rebel against his party. “I respect whatever Netaji (Mulayam) said about me. I have got this return for rendering selfless service to the party for three decades,” he said. “Why has Kalyan become so important for the SP? Is he our relative? Mulayam Singh should have at least informed me before announcing his ‘friendship’ with him,” Khan said.

“My relations with Mulayam Singh Yadav are above petty issues. There are some flaws in the party which need to be rectified and I will continue my campaign against Kalyan Singh,” Khan added.

Cops comb hotels in Rampur
The Rampur police on Saturday searched 17 hotels and four dharamshalas in the city ahead of the polls in the district. In most of these hotels,Congress and Samajwadi Party workers were staying while SP candidate Jaya Prada was putting up at Hotel Modi,which was also searched. Though nobody was detained or arrested,a licenced revolver was seized from a native of Haryana who was staying in one of the hotels for the last one week. Authorities have been asked to collect details if he was here for election campaigning. Rampur SP Jyoti Narayan denied that the search had anything to do with the FIR lodged following the attack on Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi and his men on Friday. “I had asked Azmi if he knew any person involved in the attack but he declined having any information about any of the assailants.”

FIR against Jaya,Noor Bano
The SP said separate FIRs have been lodged at the Ganj Kotwali against Congress and SP candidates Noor Bano and Jaya Prada respectively for violating model code of conduct by campaigning beyond the deadline of 10 pm on Thursday. Another FIR was lodged against Moradabad Congress candidate Azharuddin after the party stickers distributed in the area were found to be without reference to its printer and publisher.ENS