Azam Khan's name removed from voters list of his traditional seat Rampur Sadar

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Azam Khan is passing through a difficult phase in his life. Weeks after Azam Khan was convicted in a 2019 hate speech case, his name has now been removed from the electoral roll in Rampur. The decision means that the SP leader will not be able to vote in the December 5 by-election in his traditional seat of Rampur Sadar (urban).

According to reports, the decision to remove his name from the list was taken by the Rampur Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) on a complaint by BJP bypoll candidate Akash Saxena, who cited various provisions of law to seek the deletion of his name.

"Along with the application submitted by the applicant (Saxena), copies of the judgment/order of the court, and after considering the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the name of Mohammad Azam Khan is suitable for Striking off," the ERO in its decision reportedly said.

The ERO's decision is further quoted by PTI as saying, "Accordingly, the name of Khan should be immediately deleted from the serial number-333 of Vidhan sabha 37-Rampur."

Notably, Akash Saxena is the BJP nominee from the Rampur Sadar seat. The complaint in the instant matter has also earlier filed dozens of other cases against Azam Khan, who was disqualified following his conviction last month in the hate speech case.

In the by-election, the SP leader faces a tough challenge to ensure the victory of his protege Asim Raza from the Sadar seat. Khan accompanied Raza during the filing of nomination for the by-poll on Thursday.

Last month, Rampur Special court sentenced him to three years of imprisonment in the 2019 hate speech case. Following this, the assembly secretariat declared the seat vacant. Azam Khan won the Rampur Sadar seat in the recent state polls for the tenth time.

The Election Commission is conducting by-elections there along with some other constituencies including the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat which was represented by the late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar also fell vacant following the disqualification of BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini after his conviction in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case.