High drama in Moradabad as Akhilesh Yadav bows to Azam Khan’s choice

The last day of nomination for the first phase of polls saw dramatic flip-flops in Moradabad and Rampur Lok Sabha constituencies as fissures in the Samajwadi Party came out in the open.

In a bid to placate senior party leader Azam Khan, the party leadership made his confidante Ruchi Vira its official candidate in Moradabad, leaving its sitting MP Dr. S.T. Hasan in the cold. On Tuesday, Dr. Hasan had filed his nomination. The news of the sudden shift led to a ruckus in the local unit and Dr. Hasan’s supporters burnt effigies of Ms. Vira.

After the district magistrate declared Ms. Vira as the official candidate, Dr. Hasan told reporters that he filed his nomination after being given the party symbol. “I am surprised because if I were not worthy I would not have got it in the first place. There must be some compulsions but will stand by the high command’s decision,” he said.

Hailing from an influential vaishya family of Bijnor, Ms. Vira was an SP MLA from the Bijnor seat from 2014-2017, before shifting to the BSP for some time. She returned to the SP fold after being expelled by Mayawati for anti-party activities. She is the daughter-in-law of the late Dharam Vira, former Cabinet Secretary and Governor of Mysore, West Bengal and Punjab. The Vira family runs a string of educational institutions.

‘Feeling insecure’

Sources close to Dr. Hasan held Mr. Khan responsible for the change and charged him for not allowing a vibrant Muslim leadership in the party. “Everybody in the region knows his nature but the high command has to cede to his demand because of public perception. It seems Khan sahib was feeling insecure by Doctor Sahib’s rise in the Muslim community and wanted to cut him to size. It became apparent during the local body polls,” said a member of his team.

Party sources said Mr. Yadav could not be blamed as Dr. Hasan was also Mr. Khan’s choice in 2019.

Later in the day, SP’s Rajya Sabha member Javed Ali Khan posted a cryptic message on X that said, “Even during the times of Nawabs, Moradabad was not under the control of Rampur but now it is.”

The situation turned amusing in Rampur where as many as three probables from the party ranks filed the nomination, indicating a clear divide in the local unit. First, Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi, the Imam of New Delhi’s Parliament Street mosque, who claimed to have the symbol, rushed to file his nomination without any visible local support. After that Asim Raja, a close acolyte of Mr. Khan, turned up to file the nomination with the district president and followers in tow. Towards the end of the day, former municipal corporation president Abdul Salam, who is also said to be close to Mr, Khan, ran in to file the nomination with five supporters. Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi confirmed that State party president Naresh Uttam Patel took the symbol of Mr. Nadvi by a chartered flight. “The other two will be considered as independents,” he said.

Akhilesh’s refusal

The developments were triggered after Mr. Yadav visited Mr. Khan last week in the Sitapur jail where he is lodged after being convicted in the fake birth certificate case of his son. Sources said Mr. Khan wanted Mr. Yadav to contest from Rampur and field Ms. Vira from Moradabad. In an unsigned letter written and distributed on behalf of Mr. Khan by the head of the Rampur unit of the party, Ajay Sagar, the two-time MP said he wanted Mr. Yadav to contest from Rampur. In his typical sardonic tone, Mr. Khan indicated that Rampur is as important as other traditional bastions of the party like Kannauj, Baudaun, Firozabad and Mainpuri (from where members of the Yadav clan contest) and needs to be saved at a time when he, his wife and his son are behind bars because the ruling dispensation is keen on finishing him politically. He further said, that after Mr. Yadav refused his demand, he had decided to boycott the election and left the choice to Mr. Yadav.

Meanwhile, Mr. Raja told The Hindu that he filed the nomination as per the direction of his leader. “Azam sahib is the tallest leader in the party. We had asked Akhileshji to contest from Rampur to restore our pride and save the party worker from police action but he expressed his inability. It doesn’t look good but in politics, such things happen. Let’s wait for 24 hours to get a clear picture,” he said.

In 2019, the BJP lost all six seats in the Moradabad zone. Interestingly, local sources said the BJP candidate Sarvesh Singh wanted Dr. Hasan to contest and even put in a word with Shivpal Yadav for his candidature because many felt in 2019 Dr. Hasan won the seat with over 45% Muslim and 10% SC voters because of the Bahujan Samaj Party’s support. This time, the BSP has fielded Mohd Irfan Saifi, a young Muslim face who has following among youth.

Political analyst Suryamani Gupta said the SP would have been better placed if it had fielded Ms. Vira from Bijnor, her home base that also has a substantial Muslim population. “A practising physician, Dr. Hasan is a popular figure and the decision to replace him will cause resentment among Muslims. At present, the party has tied itself in knots of its own creation which will hurt its prospects in two of its strong bases. It is still a developing story, though as there could still be some twists before March 30, the last date of withdrawing the nomination.”

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