BJP demands action against Azam's bus ride

The BJP Wednesday demanded legal action against Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan for driving a bus without having a license to drive a heavy passenger vehicle.

Slamming Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for his "continued silence on the misdemeanour" of his cabinet colleague, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said Yadav's silence reflected his "inability and helplessness" to control Azam Khan and it "spoke volumes" of how Khan continued to run berserk, trampling all laws.

The minister had recently driven a state transport bus with school students and officials as passengers in his home town Rampur. Pathak said it was astonishing that the minister put on risk the lives of students in the presence of district officials.

Pathak pointed out that Khan was given a vast expanse of land on a lease of Rs.1 and that the minister was spared even after he openly took on Governor Ram Naik.

Pathak told IANS that he has requested Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to take note of the minister's behaviour and take action.