Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad is tipped to soon visit Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MLA Azam Khan in Sitapur Jail, where he has been lodged since February 2020 over alleged land grabbing and other cases.

The speculation comes after RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, who had tied up with the SP in recent UP elections, visited Khan’s family in Rampur. The visit was seen as an attempt to pacify the Azam Khan camp amid an offer to jump ship by Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM. The Khan camp is reportedly upset at being ‘ignored’ by the SP leadership.

After meeting Khan’s son Abdullah Azam and wife Tazeen Fatima at their house in Rampur, Chaudhary said: “Our families have known each other for three generations. If I am in Rampur, I would have to meet them, especially when they are going through a difficult phase.”

The RLD chief, however, did not comment on dissenting voices from the Azam Khan camp against SP leadership.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, refuted rumours that Chaudhary had met Khan’s family at his behest. “Ask Jayant Chaudhary why he met Azam Khan’s family. It is good to meet people. I didn’t send him.”

AIMIM spokesperson Mohammad Farhan had recently sent a three-page letter to Khan in Sitapur Jail, reportedly inviting him to join the party. The move came after SP MP from Sambhal Shafiq Ur Rehman Barq and Azam Khan’s close aide Fasahat Ali Shanu alleged that the Samajwadi Party was not working for Muslims.

In further headache for the SP, Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Yadav, who contested from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat on the party symbol, may soon end the alliance. He had recently met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the latter’s official residence for 20 minutes.

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