Azam Khan's son, wife file nomination from same seat as SP candidates

Jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's son and wife have filed their nominations from the same assembly constituency as the party's candidates for the Uttar Pradesh polls.

Both Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, who was released from jail recently, and his mother Tazeen Fatma have filed their affidavits from the Suar assembly seat in Rampur district, according to the Election Commission (EC) website.

Azam Khan, who was a cabinet minister in the previous Akhilesh Yadav-led government, had on Thursday filed his nomination papers, while being in jail, for the assembly polls from the Rampur seat.

Suar goes to polls on February 14 during the second of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections.

While Saturday is the date for scrutiny of nominations for the seat, candidates can withdraw their nomination till January 31, according to the official schedule.

Azam Khan, his son and his wife had surrendered in a Rampur court in 2020 after they were booked under multiple charges, including cases of forgery and land grab.

While Fatma got bail in 2020, Abdullah was released in January this year after almost a two-year jail term, even as Azam Khan, an eight-time MLA and Lok Sabha MP, continues to be imprisoned.

The family has often claimed that they are being framed because of political vendetta.

Azam Khan had won from the Rampur assembly seat in the 2017 elections, bagging over 47 per cent of polled votes. He was later elected to Lok Sabha in 2019 and Fatma replaced him as Rampur MLA in the state assembly in the bye-election.

Their son Abudullah had won the Suar assembly seat in 2017 in his first election, bagging over 51 per cent of the votes polled in the constituency.

BJP's candidates were second in both the seats during the last elections.