Akhilesh Yadav meets Azam Khan in Delhi hospital

The meeting between both leaders took place after a long time, with Khan's close associates earlier accusing Yadav of ignoring the senior party leader when he was lodged in the UP's Sitapur jail.

The condition of Khan is "perfectly stable", hospital sources had said on Tuesday. (Twitter/@yadavakhilesh)

Amid reports of alleged differences between the senior leader and the former chief minister, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met Rampur MLA Azam Khan at a Delhi hospital Wednesday. Sources said the two talked about the upcoming Lok Sabha bypolls in Rampur and Azamgarh among other things.

A confidant of Azam said that the SP leader is in the hospital for multiple health issues. “He has hypertension and some other health issues. He has undergone a surgery too for some other issue. But he is fine and will be discharged soon,” he added.

Akhilesh Yadav visits Azam Khan at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. (Twitter/@yadavakhilesh)

Later in the day, Akhilesh tweeted photographs of the meeting. “Praying for good health… get well soon!” the former chief minister tweeted in Hindi.

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Azam was released from Sitapur jail on May 20 after being granted bail. He had been lodged in Sitapur jail for around two years in connection with more than 80 cases.

Party leaders said the meeting lasted well over two hours and the two discussed the bypolls due in Azamgarh and Rampur and the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. The bypolls in Azamgarh and Rampur were necessitated after both Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan resigned as MPs from the two parliamentary constituencies respectively after their wins in the 2022 Assembly elections.

“Azam is an important and one of the seniormost party leaders who has great influence among voters in the state. He is important to us and will be by our side in the future too,” said an SP leader.

Talks of a rift between the two leaders first surfaced after Azam’s close aide Fasahat Ali Khan accused Akhilesh of “ignoring” the former party MP and maintaining silence on issues concerning the Muslim community.

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After getting bail, while Azam visited Lucknow and took oath as an MLA, he did not meet Akhilesh after speculation of all not being well between the two intensified.

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