Election Commission lifting ban on Amit Shah will strengthen communal forces: Azam Khan

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Azam Khan today said Election Commission decision to lift ban on BJP leader Amit Shah will "strengthen communal forces and weaken democracy".

Khan alleged that the EC had given relaxation to Shah so that he could get into mud slinging against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"EC has given relaxation to Shah so that he could do mud slinging against Mulayam Singh Yadav, weaken Samajwadi Party and strengthen communal forces. This is also the reason for banning me so that persons like Shah could weaken democracy," Khan said in a statement here.

Khan, who is a Cabinet minster in Akhilesh Yadav's government in Uttar Pradesh, said that Shah's statement of terming Azamgarh as the "base of terrorists" was condemnable.

Shah, who is BJP's in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, had yesterday said that Azamgarh is the base of terrorists as there is no fear of the state government, which is advocating their release. He had also said that accused in Gujarat bomb blast cases were from Azamgarh.

The SP leader said that Shah had a number of cases against him.

"The remark shows his anti-national approach," he added.