Joining BSP? Azam remains non-committal | Lucknow News
Lucknow: After walking out of jail on Tuesday, senior SP leader Azam Khan remained non-committal when asked about the specuation of him joing the Bahujan Samaj Party in the near future.“For now I will seek medical attention (for failing health). Then I will think what to do next,” Azam said when asked about reports of leaving the SP to join the BSP. When asked again about speculations again Azam said: “Jo atkalein laga rahe hain unse poochiye … mujhese kyon pooch rahe hain (Ask those who are speculating about this, why are you asking me),” Azam said. He also thanked everyone for the support that people have extended to him.Speculations over Azam Khan joining ranks with Mayawati had gained weight following reports that Azam’s wife former MP Tazeen Fatima had met BSP supremo Mayawati in Delhi on the issue and that Azam would join the party at the mega rally of the party slated to be held in Lucknow on October 9. The BSP, however, remained evasive on the issue with party’s lone sitting MLA Um Shankar Singh feigning ignorance about any such meeting. He, however, went on to state that Azam’s entry in BSP will strengthen the party. The perception that all was not well between Azam and SP gained weight for the first time in June 2025 originating from a statement from the SP veteran’s wife. After calling on her ailing husband in Sitapur jail, Tazeen was talking to the media at the prison gates when she made an emotional appeal seeking Azam’s release from jail on health grounds. Asked if she had hopes from SP in terms of support from the party of which Azam Kahn is a founding member, Fatima said she had pinned all her hopes on the Almighty. Tazeen being evasive about support from SP sparked speculations that all was not well between the SP veteran and the party, led by Akhilesh Yadav as the national president. Azam is one of the founder members of the party.In case of a situation where Azam decides to join BSP, the move is expected to help the BSP reclaim its hold on a section of Muslim voters at least in west UP areas in and around Azam’s citadel of Rampur. However, there remains a question about the role Azam might be getting in case he chooses to join BSP. With Mayawati at the helm and Akash Anand as the heir to the throne and seen as second-in-command, Azam can be projected as the Muslim face of the party.
