Azam loses Meerut charge over infighting

Panchayati Raj Minister Balram Singh Yadav has replaced Azam,who now gets Pilibhit in place of Meerut.

Azam continues to retain the charge of Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar.

While Azam termed it a routine change,SP leaders confided that the decision was taken after infighting in the party’s Meerut unit intensified under the Urban Development Minister. The party there is divided between two camps — one led by party MLC Sarojini Aggarwal and the other under Labour and Employment Minister Shahid Manzoor.

Azam visited Meerut twice after assuming its charge. On both occasions,he visited Aggrawal’s residence,summoned officials there,and addressed the media. Consequently,the administration had to be at Aggrawal’s beck and call. Besides,Aggrawal also runs the show at Meerut Municipal Corporation,which falls under Azam’s portfolio of Urban Development.

Manzoor,a known Azam-baiter,on the other hand,has been sidelined. He had spearheaded a campaign to keep Azam at bay when the latter was expelled from the party in 2009. After the SP government was formed,Manzoor hob-nobbed with Azam’s bete noire Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari. It is being said that Manzoor played a crucial role in Azam’s removal as in-charge of his home district.

In the past also,Azam had cut a sorry figure when,in spite of his opposition,Imam Bukhari had his son-in-law,Umar Ali Khan nominated as MLC,and his relative,Waseem Ahmed Khan,appointed as UP Pollution Control Board chairman.

A minister in-charge of district is a sort of a guardian minister of the district. He presides over the meeting to finalise the annual district plan.