2027 U.P. Assembly elections : Azam’s missive against INDIA bloc paving way for tie-up with Azad?

rajesh.singh@htlive.com

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s letter to INDIA bloc leaders, accusing them of silence over atrocities on Muslims in Rampur and alleging a conspiracy to eliminate the Muslim leadership can be a prelude to a new political realignment in Uttar Pradesh before the 2027 state assembly election.

The letter warns that the Muslim community will be compelled to rethink its future with the INDIA bloc. The missive comes after Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) national president Chandrashekhar Azad met Azam Khan in Sitapur jail on November 21.

On November 11, Azad met Azam Khan’s son Abllah Azam in Hardoi jail. And on November 17, the ASP leader visited Rampur to meet Khan’s elder son Adeeb and wife Tanzeen Fatima.du

Azad’s meetings with Khan and his family members sparked speculation that a family member of the SP leader may join hands with the ASP MP to form a Dalit-Muslim alliance in the run-up to the 2027 assembly elections.

Terming the meeting with Khan significant in state politics, ASP state unit chief Sunil Kumar Chittor said, “Azam Khan’s family has considerable influence over the Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the Rohilkhand region. Chandrashekhar Azad joining hands with Azam Khan will build Dalit- Muslim bhaichara (brotherhood) in Uttar Pradesh. ASP is working on Dalit- Muslim alliance in the state.”

The Dalit-Muslim formula helped Azad win the Nagina seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In the Uttar Pradesh assembly bypolls held in November, ASP polled sizeable votes in the Muslim- dominated Kundarki and Meerapur seats, pushing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to the fifth position.

The ASP will work on the Nagina model of Dalit-Muslim alliance to expand its base, an ASP leader said.

Even as Azam Khan is battling about 108 cases from behind bars, a strategy is being worked out to launch a Dalit- Muslim alliance with Khan’s family on board, said a ASP leader.

Khan’s family may announce support to the ASP in the assembly election or launch a political outfit to form an alliance with the ASP for the 2027 assembly election, he said.

The family members of Khan and his close aides said a final decision on the future political course will be taken by Azam Khan. Samajwadi Party’s Rampur district president Ajay Sagar, who released Azam Khan’s letter, said the veteran leader’s decision will be in the public domain once he announces it.

Even after an apparently strained relationship with the top SP leadership since his incarceration, Azam Khan has not cut off ties with the party, of which he is a co-founder.

In a harsh attack in the letter, the former Rampur MP said, “INDIA bloc remained a silent spectator on the destruction of Rampur and kept working on eliminating the Muslim leadership. They will have to clarify their position...”

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the SP ignored the candidate supported by Azam Khan and fielded Mohibbullah Nadvi from Rampur.

Despite opposition by Khan’s supporters, Nadvi won the seat by 87,000 votes, defeating his nearest rival Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi of the BJP. Soon, Nadvi emerged as the Muslim face in the Rampur region, apparently marginalising the Khan family.

A 10-term former MLA from Rampur and single-term ex-MP, Khan dominated the politics of the region since the early 1990s. His wife Tanzeen Fatima also represented the seat in the assembly and his son, Abdullah Azam, was elected twice to the assembly from the Suar seat in Rampur district.

“To maintain his relevance in state politics and clout with Muslim voters, Azam Khan may break ties with the SP and opt for a fresh political realignment,” said SK Srivastava, a political observer.

After the SP lost power in the 2017 assembly election, the political dominance of Khan started declining. He is behind bars since 2020. Several times, he has accused the SP leadership of not making an effort for his release from prison.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) state unit president Shaukat Ali said, party chief Asaduddin Owaisi had raised the issue of Muslim leadership and offered an alliance with Azam Khan in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2022 assembly elections but there has not been any positive message from Khan.

The AIMIM allied with Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel in the Lok Sabha election as well as assembly bypolls. The AIMIM is working on a bigger alliance for the 2027 assembly election and would like to have Azam Khan and Azad on board, he said.