This evening, the Uttar Pradesh speaker deemed Azam Khan, the head of the Samajwadi Party, ineligible to continue serving as the Rampur seat’s MLA.
According to officials in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr. Khan was automatically disqualified on Thursday after receiving a three-year prison sentence for his hate speech against Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. The disqualification was formalised by declaring his seat empty, according to the sources.
The 74-year-old leader lost his position as an MLA because, according to a 2013 Supreme Court decision, if an MLA, MLC, or MP is found guilty of a crime and sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison, they immediately lose their membership in the house.
Azam Khan won the Rampur seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, however he gave up this seat in March 2022 after he was elected to the UP state legislature. While he was incarcerated, the SP leader won the Rampur assembly district in the 2022 election.
Following his conviction for using hate speech, Azam Khan was given bail on Thursday and a week to file an appeal.
In Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Azam Khan is regarded as the second-in-command. He enjoys significant support in Rampur and other areas of western Uttar Pradesh.
Since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, there have been 87 complaints brought against the Samajwadi leader, with accusations ranging from land grabbing to theft and corruption.
A week before to Azam Khan’s conviction, the Supreme Court had warned that any delay in taking action will result in the court holding the government of the Centre, as well as the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, in contempt.
