UP Election 2022: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan files nomination from Sitapur jail

Mohammad Azam Khan, leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has filed his nomination for the forthcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh from within the Sitapur prison, according to Asim Raza, his primary election agent, on Thursday. Khan, who has been imprisoned in Sitapur since February 2020 on charges of land grabbing and other offences, has submitted his nomination for the Rampur Sadar seat.

"I filed Azam Khan's nomination today and completed all of the necessary paperwork. We're attempting to have him released on bail," according to news agency ANI quoting Asim Raza, Azam Khan's top electoral agent for the UP elections.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Rampur Returning Officer went to the Sitapur prison to pick up his nomination papers after the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rampur Court issued an order. "All paper processes have now been fulfilled," Jailor RS Yadav stated. Rampur will vote in the second round of the UP elections on February 14.

After the Samajwadi Party fielded Azam Khan in the UP elections, the BJP slammed the Akhilesh Yadav-led party as a "prison and bail" party. The BJP's spokesman, Gaurav Bhatia, slammed Khan for nominating him for the election next month "even though the court has granted him bail."

The long-awaited Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven rounds beginning February 10, with the final vote on March 7. The major struggle is expected to be between the incumbent BJP and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP), since the BSP has been mostly absent from campaigning for the Assembly election.

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• Azam Khan
• Samajwadi Party
• Sitapur
• UP Election 2022
• Rampur