New Delhi: Shivpal Singh Yadav, a prominent socialist leader, would not rule out forging a front with jailed SP leader Azam Khan on Friday, despite a developing schism with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
“A decision on this will be taken at the correct time… after he comes out of jail,” Shivpal Yadav said when asked by a reporter about the possibility of him and Mr Khan forming a new morcha (front). He stated that he will meet with party officials after Eid to discuss the problem.
The Supreme Court will hear Azam Khan’s bail application on May 2. For the past two years, the 10-time MLA from Rampur Sadar has been held in Sitapur jail on several charges.
Talking to the media after inaugurating a petrol pump , Shivpal Yadav reiterated that he was not joining the BJP. He had earlier hit out at Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks alluding to the former’s apparent closeness to the ruling BJP and dared the SP chief to expel him from the legislature party.
“Under his leadership, the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) approach of launching a struggle for people’s causes is nowhere to be seen today,” he said in an apparent dig at Akhilesh Yadav.
Shivpal Yadav, who visited Azam Khan in Sitapur jail last Friday, also rued that the Samajwadi Party under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav should have agitated in parliament on the Azam Khan issue.
“Had Mulayam Singh Yadav sat on a dharna in front of the Lok Sabha on the Azam Khan issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has tremendous respect for Neta Ji would have heard him out sympathetically,” he claimed.
Azam Khan had recently quit as the Lok Sabha MP from Rampur after being elected as an MLA from his native Rampur Sadar seat.
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