Maya, Azam ban from campaigning; nephew, son fill in for them

NEW DELHI: Son of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan and nephew of Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday filled in for the two heavyweights of Uttar Pradesh.

Akash Anand attracted media attention at his first rally in Nagina in the presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, RLD president Ajit Singh and BSP general secretary S C Misra.

In a barely five-minute address, he takes the charge and appealed to the people to vote for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The London-educated MBA nephew of Mayawati also criticised the EC order barring her paternal aunt.

“If you ensure victory of our candidate by a huge margin, it would be a befitting reply to the Election Commission,” he said in his first makes political debut.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Azam Khan, addressed a press conference in Rampur criticising the EC order.

Abdullah claimed that the Election Commission (EC) did not follow a “rightful procedure” before banning his father Azam Khan from campaigning in the run-up to polls in the region.

Abdullah alleged that no notice was given to his father before barring him from campaigning for 72 hours, starting today. “Did you ban him from election campaigning because he is a Muslim?” he asked.

On April 15, Khan, while addressing an election rally, had made derogatory remarks against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada, his BJP opponent in Rampur.

The EC on Monday imposed a nation-wide ban on Mayawati from campaigning for 48 hours from Tuesday for the”provocative” communal remarks.

Polling for Rampur Lok Sabha seat will be held in the third phase of polls on April 23. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

With agencies inputs