Samajwadi Party revokes expulsion of Azam Khan - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has revoked the expulsion of senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan, who was expelled from the party after Lok Sabha polls last year. It has been reported that Samajwadi Party National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav has written a letter to Azam Khan informing him about the decision of Mulayam Singh Yadav to revoke his suspension. "I am extremely happy to inform you that SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav has revoked your expulsion from the party. You are requested to continue to serve the party like before," NDTV quoted Ram Gopal Yadav, as saying in the letter. "We hope that support of a big leader like you will strengthen the party," he added. Azam Khan was expelled for six years for anti-party activities on May 24, capping weeks of bitter feud with the party leadership over its closeness with former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalyan Singh and its choice of Jayaprada as the party candidate for the Rampur Lok Sabha constituency. Azam Khan, formerly a general secretary of the party, was considered a close aide of the SP leader since his early days in politics, and had actively campaigned against Jayaprada in the Rampur constituency and made adverse comments against Amar Singh. Khan had raised the banner of revolt against the party leadership after Jaya Prada's candidature from Rampur was declared. He was also peeved over Mulayam Singh Yadav's friendship with former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during the 1992 Babri mosque demolition. Azam Khan, who was a prominent Muslim face of the party, had termed Yadav's closeness with Kalyan Singh as against the sentiments of Muslims.