Coming to the rescue of Azam Khan who is an accused in several cases, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that all cases against Rampur MP Khan would be dropped if his party was voted back to power, reports Indian Express.

Addressing a press conference in Rampur after visiting Azam Khan’s residence, Akhilesh Yadav assured the party’s full support to Khan, who is facing several police cases including those related to alleged land-grabbing.

“I will meet the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, regarding false cases against the MP. I will inform her about the harassment being faced by Azam Khan. I am taking back copies of all FIRs against Azam with me to Lucknow. We have full faith in the courts and we will get justice. Similarly, several cases had been lodged against Mulayam Singhji. Then, the courts had helped us,” said Akhilesh, who was accompanied by Azam’s son, MLA Abdullah Khan, at the press conference.

Addressing reporters in Rampur, Akhilesh said, “Once the Samajwadi Party is voted back to power in Uttar Pradesh, all the cases lodged against senior SP leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan will be withdrawn.”

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He added that as long as the administration continues to do “injustice”, more people would lose faith in the government. He added that people are losing faith in the government and administration. “You should see the list of cases against Azam. There are all types of fake cases against him… His family members are being taken to the police station to humiliate them,” said Akhilesh.

Claiming that the BJP government was indulging in vendetta politics, Azamgarh MP Akhilesh Yadav said that this was being done to divert the attention of the people from the real issues.

Several cases have been booked against Rampur MP Azam Khan. Just three days back, Rampur Police in Uttar Pradesh had booked Azam Khan on allegations of ‘stealing goats’ following the complaint which was filed on October 2016.

It was first land-grabbing, then lion statues, followed by books and valuable manuscripts. He has also been booked for ‘stealing buffaloes’. Recently, the Rampur MP was also booked for electricity theft. The power supply to Azam Khan’s resort ‘Humsafar’ in Uttar Pradesh was cut after raids were conducted in the resort by the Uttar Pradesh electricity department.

Reacting to Akhilesh’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said he should stand with the poor farmers whose land was snatched by Khan.

“During the tenure of the SP government, Khan usurped the land of farmers and also exploited the people of Rampur. Today, those people are filing cases against Azam for all the exploitative measures. Akhilesh Yadav should instead stand with the poor people,” said Tripathi.