The by-election to Suar Tanda assembly constituency in Rampur district will be the third consecutive challenge to the political clout of Mohammad Azam Khan, the Muslim mascot of Samajwadi Party in Rampur district.
The campaign for the Suar Tanda and Chhanbey assembly seat in Sonbhadra ended on Monday evening and polling will be held on May 10.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has accorded top priority to the by-election in Suar Tanda as it is yet another opportunity for the ruling party to show that Azam Khan’s family “is politically finished in their citadel of Rampur”.
Earlier in June 2022, the BJP had won the by-election to Rampur Lok Sabha seat, which was caused by the resignation of SP MP Azam Khan. He resigned after winning from Rampur assembly seat in March 2022 UP assembly election. In December 2022, the BJP won the by-election to Rampur assembly as its candidate, Akash Saxena, defeated his nearest SP rival Asim Raza by over 33,000 votes.
By-election to Suar Tanda is yet another opportunity for the BJP to hit at the political roots of the Azam Khan family. Suar Tanda assembly seat became vacant after Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam Khan was disqualified for the second time from the same seat in February after he was sentenced to two years in a 15-year-old case.
Abdullah Azam Khan, and his father were convicted by a local court in Moradabad district for using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code in a matter pertaining to a dharna on a state highway in January 2008.
While the SP generally relied on Azam Khan and his family to win Suar Tanda – Abdullah had won the last two elections in 2017 and 2022 – this time, the SP has fielded grassroots leader Anuradha Chauhan (42) who is also an advocate. Chauhan, a first-time candidate from outside Azam Khan’s circle in Rampur, was earlier with the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has not fielded a candidate in the bypoll. Chauhan was an independent zila panchayat member after quitting the BSP. She joined the SP in 2015. Before that, she had been a gram pradhan as well.
There were some doubts over whether Azam Khan would extend his support to Chauhan after he refused the SP’s offer to field someone from his family. But since then, he has clarified those doubts by holding a public meeting on Saturday evening in Suar to seek votes for the party candidate. With Azam Khan in her camp, Chauhan is expected to give a tough fight to her rival Shafiq Ahmed Ansari of the BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal).
Ansari belongs to the backward Pasmanda Muslim community and was with the SP before he joined the Apna Dal (S) led by Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel a few months ago. Like the BSP, the Congress too has not fielded a candidate for the Suar bypoll.
Though the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is contesting the seat on the symbol of Apna Dal (S), the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Suar is conquered. A BJP leader in Rampur said, “They (SP) only have one seat left with them in Rampur, while Suar is currently vacant. People have stopped voting in the name of Azam Khan.”
Of the five Vidhan Sabha seats in Rampur, three are with the BJP, including Rampur. Only Chamraua is with the SP.
“The candidate may be of Apna Dal (S) but the whole organisation of the BJP is behind Ansari in this poll. Every worker will fight for Ansari and ensure he wins,” said a BJP leader.
Anupriya Patel, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and minister JPS Rathore have campaigned for Ansari.
In the 2022 elections, Abdullah had won the seat by 61,103 votes, defeating Apna Dal’s erstwhile nawab Haidar Ali Khan alias ‘Hamza Mian’. Abdullah managed to get 59.19 per cent votes polled in a constituency having a Muslim majority.