Birthday bash: Mulayam hails Azam Khan for doing "great job"

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today heaped praise on senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan for doing a "great job" in arranging his birthday bash even as he ruled out any action against him over his comment on the source of funding for the event.
The birthday celebrations had drawn a flak from various quarters for the extravaganza associated with it and the controversial comment made by Khan.
"Why should people ask him (Azam Khan) from where money has came (for birthday celebrations)? He has done a great job in arranging celebrations for my birthday. You must have seen how people from different walks of life formed a 16-km-long human chain to greet me that day. They are not given any money to do so. They came as per their wish," said Yadav.

Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav were in the city today to attend a function in the family of former Medical Council of India president Ketan Desai. They were accompanied by SP MP Naresh Agrawal and Congress leader Rajiv Shukla.
Yadav celebrated his 75th birthday last week at a grand event in Rampur.
Replying to a query by reporters on the source of money for the flamboyant event, Khan had said, "the event was funded by Taliban and Dawood Ibrahim."

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik had suggested that SP president and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav should think over Khan's statement.

When asked if he intends to initiate any action against Khan following Governor's statement that there is a feeling among people that so much expenditure should not be done, Mulayam parried the question saying, "You (media) tell me what action should be taken against Azam Khan."
After landing here at the airport, Akhilesh went to Gandhinagar and held a brief meeting with his Gujarat counterpart Anandi Patel.