‘Where only emotions spoke silently’: Akhilesh on his meeting with Azam Khan

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav finally met party’s senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan, here on Wednesday, for the first time after his release from jail a fortnight ago.

During the meeting at the residence of the veteran Samajwadi Party leader, the two leaders held talks for two hours and 10 minutes and had lunch together. They were alone during the discussion. Even Azam Khan’s wife and son were not present at the time.

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Commenting on his visit to Khan, Akhikesh Yadav said in a tweet on X, “What can I say about the meeting, where only emotions spoke silently?”

Coming out of the Khan’s residence, Akhilesh Yadav told reporters, “Azam Sahib is a very old leader. His deep influence has always been with us. Azam Khan is the tree of our party. The BJP wants to set a world record by filing a case against the Azam family. This is a big battle, and we will all fight it together.”

“This is the first time in the country’s history that Azam Khan and his family have faced the most cases. I wonder what type of Guinness World Record this government is trying to set,” he wondered.

When questioned about his conspicuous absence during the release of Azam Khan from jail, he quipped, “I couldn’t meet Azam Khan when he was released from jail, so I’ve come to meet him. We’ll continue to meet. Even in the Supreme Court, an attempt was made to throw a shoe at a judge. Tell me, wherever PDA members are sitting, they’re being harassed.”

Earlier, Azam Khan personally received the SP chief at the Jauhar University campus and they travelled together to his residence in the same car.

Akhilesh Yadav left for Rampur from Lucknow on Wednesday morning at 11:30 am by private air. He landed at the Bareilly Airport before taking a chopper for Rampur and arrived at the Jauhar University at 12:45 pm.

Meanwhile, in view of Azam’s displeasure, the SP chief left Rampur MP Mohibullah Nadvi, who travelled with him to Bareilly. In fact, Khan had said on Tuesday that he was simply not familiar with the MP. “I am not familiar with the Rampur MP and I have not met him.”

Azam Khan was released from Sitapur jail on September 23. After his release, he said, “I’m not a big leader. If I was a big leader, a big leader would have come to receive me. Big leaders only come to receive big leaders.”