Azad Party national president Chandrashekhar Azad visited Rampur on Wednesday to extend his support to the Samajwadi Party candidate for the December 5 by-election in the assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Azad garlanded a statue of B R Ambedkar and visited senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan at his house. The assembly bypoll in Rampur Sadar was necessitated due to the disqualification of Khan following his conviction in a hate speech case. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Khan's close aide Asim Raza from the seat.
With Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) not contesting the upcoming bypolls in the state, the SP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have reached an understanding with Chandrashekhar Azad, a Dalit leader who heads the Azad Party.
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Talking to reporters, Azad said, "Democracy and (future of the) youth are in danger today. Unemployment and inflation are increasing. Farmers are not getting fair price for their crops, they are in danger. Women are in danger."
He claimed the people of Khatauli, Rampur and Mainpuri will teach a lesson to the "arrogant" government. "People will make them (BJP) realise that the public is the master. At the moment, they (BJP) consider themselves to be the master," Azad said.
He alleged bulldozers are used to demolish houses of people on the basis of caste and religion. "FIRs are not registered even in cases of rape of people belonging to weaker sections and they are forced to flee to different parts of the country to save their lives," he further alleged.
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By-elections in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli assembly constituencies and Mainpuri parliamentary seat are slated for December 5. The Khatauli seat fell vacant following the disqualification of BJP MLA Vikram Saini after his conviction in a case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.
(With PTI Inputs)
