Azam Khan has fallen from top to ‘zero’: Jaya Prada

Rampur: Former Rampur MP and actor Jaya Prada on Tuesday attacked Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, saying he has fallen from the top to “zero”.

She was here to canvass for BJP candidate Masarat Mujeeb for the upcoming elections to the post of chairperson in Rampur municipality. Urban body elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held on May 4 and May 11.

Asked about the allegations than Khan uses indecent language in his public meetings, Jaya Prada told reporters, “Azam Khan has gone berserk. No one can correct him. He is losing today and still expects to win. Is he a strong leader now? The 100 per cent leader has now come to a zero.”

Khan, who faces nearly 90 cases, including of corruption and theft, was disqualified as an MLA in October last year after the Rampur MP-MLA court convicted him in a 2019 hate speech case and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. He had won from Rampur Sadar for a record 10th time.

“He does not even have the right to vote. I only appeal to him that he should stop abusing now and set his mind right to reform himself,” the actor said.

In November last year, Khan’s name was removed from the electoral roll in Rampur by the Rampur electoral registration officer on a complaint by BJP candidate Akash Saxena, who cited various provisions of law to seek the deletion of his name.

Campaigning for the SP candidate Fatima Jabeen, Azam Khan took a jibe at Jaya Prada without naming her.

“Heard the ‘mohatarma’ (lady) held a roadshow today. Remember, I have not lost the Parliament nor the assembly. Those running the country very well know I cannot be defeated. Hence, I was removed,” he said.

“Judgement has been delivered in two cases lodged against me and hundreds of them are still pending. The maximum punishment, which can be given in both the cases, has been given to me and (son) Abdullah. And today, before coming to this meeting, we got a ‘hukumnama’ (order) from the tehsil office that your voting rights have ceased to exist. We were reminded that we do not have voting rights, but the right to seek votes is not yet over,” the SP leader said.

He also alleged that no development has taken place after the Samajwadi Party lost power in Uttar Pradesh.