Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Former general secretary of Samajwadi Party, Amar Singh launched a scathing attack on party stalwart Azam Khan on Tuesday calling him a 'rogue' element who allegedly threatened to throw acid on his two minor daughters and kill his wife.

The former SP leader, who was expelled from SP by Akhilesh Yadav after taking over as party national president, held Rampur MLA responsible for Muzaffarnagar riots calling Samajwadi Party 'Namazwadi' in a bid to resurrect the 'Muslim appeasement' narrative in UP's political arena.

In an interaction with media persons in state capital, Amar Singh, on one hand, dared Azam Khan, former urban development minister of UP, to get him eliminated during his Rampur visit on August 30, on the other, he held him responsible for dreaded Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.

"If you want my life, I am ready to sacrifice it, but spare my minor daughters and my wife," Amar Singh urged Azam Khan in a statement laced with sarcasm. Khan was under fire from former SP leader as the Rampur MLA, in an interview to a private news channel, had reportedly said: "When people like Amar Singh will be publicly lynched, his wife beaten up and acid thrown on his daughters, then they will mend their ways."

Training his guns at SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav for fostering Azam Khan as his Dattak Putra (fostered son) and not pulling him up for his mindless diatribes, Amar Singh also fired a salvo at SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for patronising communalists and fundamentalists like Khan.

Putting the blame of 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots squarely on Azam Khan, the Rajya Sabha member (unattached) said western UP did not see a riot even during the partition, but when Azam Khan was made minister in-charge of western UP districts, Muzaffarnagar had to bear the brunt of communal conflagration killing hundreds and rendering scores shelterless.

"Till the time leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav will prop up politicians like Azam Khan, riots like 2013 will continue to take place," he claimed.

He added that when Muzaffarnagar was burning, the entire Samajwadi Party and the Yadav clan were enjoying 'Saifai Mahatsov'. "Had Mulayam Singh Yadav condemned Azam Khan even once for what he said about my family, I would not have called it a Namazwadi Party," maintained Amar Singh.

Questioning SP chief's promise to build a sprawling 'Vishnu Nagari', Amar Singh said: "How can a 'Namazwadi' party chief can construct a Hindu temple?"

However, responding to Amar Singh's jibe, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav attributed it to the BJP calling it their tactic to divert people's attention from main issues. "BJP is master in diverting attention to other issue," he said.

Meanwhile, Amar Singh reiterated that he would fully support the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He claimed that he had arranged a meeting of Shivpal Yadav, who was aspiring for his rehabilitation in SP for more than a year now, with BJP top leadership but the latter did not agree.

At the time when SP and BSP are tying up to put up a formidable challenge to the BJP in 2019, Amar Singh can come handy to the saffron party in denting the prospects of the grand alliance.