RampuriSamajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has made serious allegations against the Uttar Pradesh Police before the Lok Sabha by-elections in Azamgarh and Rampur parliamentary seats. Speaking to ANI, the SP leader accused the UP Police of committing excesses and threatening the people of Rampur on the night of the Lok Sabha bypolls.
“They (police) wreaked havoc overnight. Jeeps and sirens were everywhere in the city (Rampur); They took people to the police station, beat them up and I have also heard about some money transfers. It is shameful,” the SP leader said.
“I kept awake the whole night. Our Lok Sabha candidates went to Ganj PS, Kotwali PS and Civil Lines PS (in Rampur). The most indecent behavior was of the Inspector of Ganj police station, they also resorted to violence… If the polling percentage falls, then the administration lay blame.
On charges of several criminal cases registered against him, Khan said, “I am a criminal, I admit… so my city is also treated as such. They can do whatever they want, we will have to endure. If I have to. If I want to stay, I have to endure.”
#watch , I am a criminal, I believe… so my city is also treated like that. They can do whatever they want, we have to endure. If you have to stop, you will have to face it: SP leader Azam Khan after claiming police violence on the night of Lok Sabha bypolls pic.twitter.com/Xq14HDRwr3– ANI UP / Uttarakhand (ANINewsUP) 23 June 2022
Azam Khan’s remarks as voting began on Thursday morning in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh and Rampur, the Lok Sabha seats considered strongholds of the opposition Samajwadi Party in the state.
Over 35 lakh people are eligible to vote in the election and will decide the fate of 19 candidates. The by-poll to Azamgarh seat was held in the wake of the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly as an MLA in the elections held earlier this year.
The Rampur seat was vacated by senior SP leader Azam Khan, who was also elected to the state assembly. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer here said that the polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
According to an official statement issued by the Election Commission here, two general and multiple expenditure observers have been appointed to oversee the elections.
Apart from this, 291 Sector Magistrates, 40 Zonal Magistrates and 433 Micro-observers have also been deputed. Adequate number of central and state forces have been deployed to ensure security and peaceful polling. The responsibility of security of EVMs and strongrooms has been given to the central forces.
According to officials, 13 candidates are in the fray from Azamgarh, where 18.38 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes. Six candidates are contesting from Rampur, which has 17.06 lakh voters.
From Rampur, the BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who recently joined the party, while the SP has fielded Asim Raja, who has been chosen by Khan. Mayawati-led BSP is not contesting from Rampur.
The Azamgarh seat will see a triangular contest among BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’, a famous Bhojpuri actor-singer, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav and BSP’s Shah Alam, also known as Guddu Jamali.
Out of 18.38 lakh voters in Azamgarh, 9,70,249 are males, 8,67,942 are females and 36 are third gender. Officials said 2,176 booths have been set up at 1,149 polling stations in the constituency, where an estimated 15 per cent of the residents are Muslims.
All the four assembly constituencies falling in this Lok Sabha seat – Azamgarh, Mubarakpur, Sagdi, Gopalpur and Meghnagar – were won by the SP in the recent assembly elections.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there was an alliance between SP and BSP and Akhilesh Yadav easily won by getting 6.21 lakh votes against Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’ of BJP, who got 3.61 lakh votes. While central BJP leaders were absent from campaigning this time, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought votes for BJP candidates in two seats.
Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple did not campaign in the by-election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Azam Khan got 5,59,177 votes, while BJP candidate Jaya Prada got 4,49,180 votes and Congress candidate Sanjay Kapoor lost his deposit.