Manjit Thakur / New Delhi
The going has only got tougher for Azam Khan, a veteran of Samajwadi Party, who is contesting from Rampur in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections from inside the jail, where he is lodged awaiting orders by Court on his bail applications in at least two cases.
Azam Khan, who represents Rampur in Lok Sabha, has spent 23 months in Sitapur Jail. The Jail Officer RS Yadav said that as per the Court order, the returning officer came to the jail to make Khan complete all paperwork for his nomination as a candidate of Samajwadi Party from Rampur. Khan's lawyer was also present on the occasion.
Khan has been granted bail in many of some 100 criminal cases filed against him by the government of Yogi Aditya Nath and individuals.
Though the court has granted him bail in most cases the hearing on grant of bail in a case under the Enemy Property Act – about the alleged merger of his personal property, Jauhar University, with the enemy property - and one more case is pending.
According to his disclosures in his nomination papers, Azam Khan’s income in 2016-17 was around Rs 16 lakh, while he owns immovable property worth Rs 40.5 lakh. Interestingly, one of his cars that he uses often costs Rs 51 lakh.
According to media reports, Dr. Tajin Fatima, Azam Khan's wife, a teacher by profession, is richer than her husband. The 72-year-old Fatima has retired as a professor in the Government Degree College is an MLA from Rampur. She contested from Rampur Assembly seat after her husband vacated it to contest for the Lok Sabha election. Tazeen Fatima's assets are estimated to be worth Rs 2.86 crores and 32 criminal cases are registered against her.
This time, Tazeen Fatma has also filed her nomination as a shadow candidate for their son Abdullah azam Khan from the Swar constituency as the family feared his candidature may not be accepted given his record.
It’s interesting to know that in the last Assembly elections (2017) Abdullah was found to have used fake documents to establish his age and the Election Commission had canceled his election.
Abdullah Azam Khan had won the Swar Tanda seat in the 2017 assembly elections but an inquiry proved that he had used a fake certificate to prove he was 25-year-old and therefore eligible to contest. The complaint was lodged by the defeated BSP candidate Nawab Kazim Ali Khan to the Election Commission. Later, the Election Commission asked the District magistrate to probe into the allegations of the BSP candidate.
This time Abdullah’s nomination was cleared despite speculations in his camp. He has declared assets worth Rs 3.25 crore and 43 criminal cases are registered against him. At present, Abdullah is out of jail on bail.
The trouble against Azam Khan started when a video clip of him asking an IAS officer to clean his shoes went viral on social media. The incident happened at an election rally and the authorities have withheld the name of the said officer.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rampur DM Anjaneya Kumar Singh had strictly followed the election code of conduct and took strict action against the violators. When action was taken against those close to Azam Khan, Khan had said at a public rally, "Don't be afraid of collectors; they are just on payrolls (of the government). If Allah wishes, I will get my shoes cleaned (by the officer) again after the election."
However, Azam Khan seemed to have run out of luck then. Just after the elections, 27 farmers met the District Magistrate and complained against Azam Khan forcibly taking away their land for his dream project of Jauhar University.
After an investigation by the revenue authorities, an FIR was registered against the MP. The government also got land encroached upon by Khan and some of his close friends and associates freed from their hold.
