On October 5, Mr Khan had appeared before the Special Investigation Team. (File)

Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan turned emotional at election rally in UP on Saturday while talking about the criminal cases he is facing in alleged land encroachment scams. During his long political career, Mr Khan said, he has always taken a stand for the masses, adding that he has not gained anything but has only lost weight and the institutions that he has set up for common good.

Addressing an election rally for the upcoming by-polls in the state, Mr Khan said: "I am being called a criminal because I'm your lawyer. I was framed because I fought for the general public and the general good. On the Triple Talaq and Ayodhya Ram mandir issue, I had said that everyone should wait for the court's decisions. I said nothing more, and yet I am being punished."

"I thought there were people who consider me as a good politician and a good person. In this long political journey, I have not gained a kilo of weight but instead lost 22 kg weight," he added.

"What is the point if all the universities and schools that I have opened for children shut down? If I lose these institutions and my weight then I will be left with nothing," he added.

Mr Khan has been named in several criminal cases over land encroachments by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

On October 5, Mr Khan had appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which interrogated him for two and a half hours.

The court has now listed the next hearing in the case on October 29. Over 80 cases have been registered against the SP leader.