He is also slated to meet Azam’s son Abdullah and other family members at the senior party leader’s residence. Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav will call on party veteran Azam Khan in Rampur jail on Thursday.
Akhilesh’s meeting with Azam comes in the backdrop of Tazeen Fatima and Adeeb calling upon the SP chief at his residence in Lucknow on Sept 30. After the meeting, Tazeen dismissed as rumours media reports that Azam had supposedly demanded 15 seats to field ‘his’ candidates in the assembly elections.
In the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Akhilesh visited Azam when he was lodged at Sitapur jail on March 23, 2024. During the brief period Azam was out on bail, Akhilesh flew down to Rampur on Oct 5, 2025, to meet the party veteran and his family at their home. Barely a month later, Azam came to Lucknow to meet Akhilesh at his residence on Nov 7, 2025. Akhilesh is scheduled to land at the Jauhar University helipad at 12:30 pm, from where he will head directly to Rampur jail to call on Azam, the SP’s most prominent Muslim face.
Akhilesh honoured Azam’s suggestion and Ruchi Veera won the elections. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Lucknow | Silver Rate in Lucknow | Bank Holidays in Lucknow | Public Holidays in Lucknow | Lucknow AQI | Weather in Lucknow | Petrol Price in Lucknow | Diesel Price in Lucknow | CNG Price in Lucknow | LPG Price in Lucknow Stay updated with the latest Lucknow news. This is not the first time that Akhilesh is meeting Azam in jail. It was during this meeting that Azam reportedly expressed his desire to see a member of the Yadav clan contest the Parliamentary polls from Rampur after which Akhilesh air-dashed his grand-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav to Azam’s bastion. Thereafter, the SP chief sent Tej Pratap back and fielded Mohibbullah Nadvi who contested his maiden elections successfully and is presently the sitting MP from the seat. There were reports that it was during this meeting that Azam recommended Lok Sabha poll tickets for a couple of other candidates including replacing ST Hasan with Ruchi Veera in Moradabad. This was his first visit to the state capital after his release from jail. The two meetings went a long way to neutralise allegations of SP’s political rivals that Azam and his family were not at good terms with Akhilesh. Akhilesh’s Rampur visit has already triggered sharp reactions from the rival camp. BJP ally and minister in Yogi cabinet Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) claimed the visit is an election-driven move to secure Muslim vote banks. Download the TOI App.
BJP MLA from Loni assembly seat in Ghaziabad, Nand Kishor Gurjar, has criticized the timing, alleging the SP leadership did little to help Azam earlier and was using the meeting for political posturing.