(Azam Khan)

LUCKNOW: A quiet campaign to cut Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan down to size appears to be at work in Uttar Pradesh. The party’s sulking Muslim face is locked in a bitter battle of words with Shia clerics over Waqf Board elections in UP. He is also believed to be upset with the SP leadership over Amar Singh’s reappearance, four years after he fell out with the party, on stage with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav .In the latest development, an old 2009 video of Khan addressing a public rally in his home constituency Rampur was released on Tuesday. In the video, Khan is shown making a speech in which he refers to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as a “hijra” (eunuch), not once, but many times, for his alleged inability to transform Suar Tanda, Milak and Bilaspur, all assembly constituencies in Rampur district, along the lines of Chandigarh.Although the context of the video does not find mention on the website on which it has been released, the speech was made soon after Khan parted ways with the SP in 2009, over Amar Singh’s growing clout within the party.How the offensive video resurfaced after more than five years is unclear, but one thing is obvious; Azam’s clout within SP is waning. Twice now in one month, Azam’s words have been overruled. He called for elections to the Shia Waqf Board , which Mulayam ordered against earlier this month. The elections have now been put off indefinitely. In another move, the invitation to Amar Singh at the inauguration of the Janeshwar Mishra park also miffed the Muslim leader; he gave it a skip, as well as two other government programmes that all other cabinet ministers attended.The move, sources in the SP said, is a result of a growing number of Azam detractors within the SP. Most people also question Azam’s clout within the Muslim community, as well as his ability to draw votes for the party.