Azam Khan to rejoin SP soon

LUCKNOW: The stage is all set for re-entry of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s ex-ally Azam Khan, a strong votary of minority cause, into the party.

Although no date or time has been fixed for his homecoming, senior party leaders said it may happen sooner than later. On his part, Mr Khan, known for his outbursts, has mellowed down and is sending positive signals to the SP leadership.

Mr Khan would be holding a meeting of his supporters in Lucknow on November 2, were he is likely to discuss his return to SP. A few days back, SP chief had virtually requested the former state minister to return to the party and said his expulsion was a mistake.

Mr Yadav said Mr Khan was a founder-member of SP and the party was in touch with him for his return. Mr Khan, who never got along well with Amar Singh, once a close confidant of Mr Yadav, had expressed his resentment against the alliance with Hindutva mascot Kalyan Singh, and had blamed Mr Amar Singh for brokering the deal.

All along the Lok Sabha poll campaign, Mr Khan kept criticising the party leadership, and eventually he was expelled for six years. The party faced serious reverses and the Lok Sabha results clearly indicated that SP’s Muslim vote-bank had drifted away.

But later, after the expulsion of Mr Amar Singh from the party, the SP chief publicly apologised to Muslims for his alliance with Mr Kalyan Singh. This is being seen as Mr Yadav’s desperate bid to woo back the Muslims.