‘Removing Azam will lead to Muslim backlash’

Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh Friday said party chief Mulayam Singh will face a “tremendous backlash” from Muslims in the next Lok Sabha polls if he dismissed minister Azam Khan,who is reported to be unhappy over the handling of the Muzaffarnagar communal riots.

“Mulayam will have to face tremendous backlash from Muslim community if he dismisses Khan from the party. The Muslim leader will become an instant martyr if SP chief did that,” he said.

Singh’s comments come in the wake of SP national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav taking a dig at Khan,considered the party’s Muslim face,saying no one can ‘blackmail’ the party as none had the stature which Mulayam enjoys among Muslims.However,Singh charged that Mulayam “has no guts” to remove Khan as he was testing waters in the run-up to the next year’s Parliamentary elections.