In an attempt to scotch rumours that senior minister un Uttar Pradesh Government Mohd Azam Khan sulking over possibility of Amar Singh’s re-entry into Samajwadi Party, the party leadership has included this Muslim mascot among the list of 40-member star campaigner for 11 assembly and one lok Sabha election slated for September 13.
The list of the 40 star campaigners of the SP is led by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav with Ram Gopal Yadav is the second name in the list sent to the Election Commission.
“Azam Khan sahib is there in the list. He is on the third number while Akhilesh Yadav is on the fourth. So there is no merit in rumours that Khan sahib is sulking,” Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry said. The list proves that the importance of Azam Khan continues to be the same like before the lok Sabha election in which the ruling party could win just five seats with Mulayam Singh Yadav alone winning two seats.
According to party sources here the leadership has tried to keep a balance in the caste equation in the star campaigner list. The other prominent names in the SP’s star campaigner list are UP ministers Manoj Kumar Pandey, Abhishek Mishra, Arvind Singh Gope, Raj Kishore Singh, Vinod Kumar Singh alias Pandit Singh, former minister Ashok Bajpai and MP Arvind Singh.
Several close confidants of UP CM Akhilesh Yadav like Sunil Yadav Sajan, Rajyapal Kashyap,Ram Briksh Singh Yadav and Ashu Mallick were also in the list. The SP’s list comes after Congress announced a 35-member star campaigners list without the name of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
BJP has not named any star campaigner for UP but has named three leaders — Union Minister Kalraj Mishra, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath and UP BJP president laxmikant Bajpai as the campaigners during thd by-election. While SP and BJP are contesting all the 11 and one lok Sabha bypolls, the Congress is contesting in only 11 assembly seats.