An under-construction clinic's the registration of which has been temporarily cancelled. An under-construction clinic's the registration of which has been temporarily cancelled.

The Rampur Hospital of Dr Mirza Sajid Beg has been shut down for 'improvements'. The Rampur Hospital of Dr Mirza Sajid Beg has been shut down for 'improvements'.

In the badlands of Samajwadi Party (SP) ruled Uttar Pradesh , a new-age Godfather has edged out the genteel nawabs in their own state. In just over a month since the state voted SP to power, local MLA Azam Khan has struck terror in the erstwhile state of Rampur. He holds court in his office on Topkhana Road, where new writs are issued almost every week. He instructs the butchers to lower the rate at which they sell meat; directs private doctors to reduce their fees by 20 per cent and has ordered a spree of demolitions, of illegal structures, in the city.Of course, no one dares disagree with his diktats. After Khan so desired, the butchers promptly announced a reduction in buffalo meat rates. And the local unit of the Indian Medical Association gave an undertaking that they will lower their fees.But Khan is still not happy. "These doctors are charging Rs 350 for just seeing a patient. We live in a poor city. This rate is not acceptable. I will not let the poor be fleeced by these people. And why should butchers hike their rates so much? My strength comes from the poor. I fight on their behalf. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," said Khan, who is the minister for urban development in Akhilesh Yadav's Cabinet.Private doctors, it seems, are prominent on Khan's radar. So are local plywood manufacturers. Dr Tanveer Ahmed Khan, who fought against the SP leader on a Congress ticket in the assembly elections, says doctors and local businessmen are being targeted because they supported him.Dr Ahmed, along with three other doctors - Dr Mahboob Ali Khan, Dr Musarrat Mujib and Dr Sofia Jafar - received a notice from Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr S.K. Jain on April 2, cancelling his registration to run his Sewa Polyclinic and Diagnostic Centre.The CMO's department inspected his clinic on April 2 and found several 'discrepancies' - the clinic was not clean enough, there was no lift to take patients to the upper floors, the ramp for the purpose was "too steep"."Your registration stands cancelled for 15 days during which you comply with the directions of the inspection team. If, after 15 days, it is found that you have not improved upon the shortcomings pointed out by the inspection team, your registration will be cancelled permanently," said the notice by the CMO.On the same day, a hospital run by the local Rotary Club under the aegis of the Handicapped Children's Relief Society (HCRS), too, was shut down on the CMO's order. Similarly, the Rampur Hospital on the Rampur-Nainital highway and the Mirza Polyclinic and Maternity Centre in Bazar Abdullah were shut down. The hospitals are owned by Dr Mirza Sajid Beg, who is a supporter of Dr Tanveer Ahmed, as was the Rotary Club.The CMO, however, denies his action was political. "We were receiving a lot of complaints. Dr Mirza Beg is a Unani practitioner but runs an allopathic clinic. The Rotary Club hospital had expired injections and untrained staff. Same was the case with Dr Ahmed's clinic," Dr Jain said.The district magistrate, Anil Dhingra, too, insists that there is "nothing political" in any of the goings on. "Some complaints were received, so the authorities have acted," he said. "Come back tomorrow, I will give you more details."Dr Beg was too scared to talk, so were Dr Ramesh Aggarwal and Dr RNS Mathur at the Rotary hospital. "We can't say anything. We will comply with the directions issued by the authorities," one of them said. They have closed their hospitals and are "trying to improve".But Dr Ahmed is defiant. "I do not care. This is all political. I have run this clinic for so long, but suddenly the authorities have woken up to discover the ramp is too steep and the hospital is not clean," he said.The nawab of Rampur and MLA from the neighbouring Suar Tanda, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan aka Nawaid Mian, agrees. "Political opponents are being harassed by using official machinery. This is the true character of the SP," he said.Of the total 47 plywood factories flourishing in the city a month ago, only about 10 are still functioning."The day the poll results came, I went to my factory and took out the machines. I don't want the officials to take it away," said a plywood manufacturer. "I live in fear? not of shutting down business because that can be built again. I do not want to be arrested. I rue the day I supported the Congress. They ran away to Delhi in their SUVs and left us to these butchers."Khan believes these units built their business at the cost of the poor. "If you've noticed, Rampur gets electricity 24 hours a day now. All these illegal factories will be shut down. I have told the people of Rampur - don't come with any pleas on their behalf. They are sucking the blood of the poor," he said.The Congress stands no chance. With support dwindling, Dr Ahmed too will not last long. The opposition will be crushed. The new Raja of Rampur will make sure of that.