Rampur: In western UP’s Rampur constituency, which goes to polls on Wednesday, nothing defines the political agenda for other political party candidates than 'Paris-like development of Rampur' by its chief designer and key contestant, Azam Khan.
Speaking to News 18 about what Rampur wants, Mahmood Ali, brother of the BSP candidate from Rampur Dr Tanveer Ahmad Khan, claimed, 'Freedom from Azam Khan.'
The primary political question in the constituency, Khan said, was whether someone was for or against Azam Khan and his model of development.
There is lot of talk about demonetisation, Dalit-Muslim unity in UP. “But here nobody really cares about this. We consolidate behind him or oppose his work.”
In another part of the constituency, BJP candidate Shiv Bahadur Saxena and his supporters are pinning hope on Hindu and secular Muslim votes to end the political ambitions of the SP heavyweight in this Assembly polls.
“Calculations are weighing in favour of the BJP,” said the BJP supporter, adding, “especially after the delimitation in 2007 when 70 villages, in which majority of voters were Hindus, were merged into the Rampur assembly seat”.
Saxena has been elected twice from the nearby Swar Tanda Assembly seat, where Muslims are in majority.
“Earlier, there were only 30% Hindus in Rampur and with delimitation in 2007, the percentage has increased to 47%. This will be an important factor after the 2014 elections when Narendra Modi wave formed the BJP-led government at the Centre,” said Akash Saxena, a BJP supporter.
In a roadshow organised for Akhilesh Yadav in Rampur, a former MLA of Samajwadi Party, Afroz Ali Khan, reminds the crowd that 40 years ago, Azam Khan was a humble man beating the odds on his scooter. “He had resolved to make Rampur like Paris. Forty years on, we can see the beautiful face of this city, this is all because of his effort.”
Azam Khan, the man himself has no qualms about crediting the overnight infrastructural boom in Rampur to “a one man show.” He claims not to have spent a single penny “in purchasing even a car for myself but I have made Rampur a city that will set an example for other cities,” he said.
“What is this talk about the elections being crucial? We will win all five constituencies in this area,” he told News 18, asserting his invincibility in the seat from where he has contested eight times and lost only once.
Talking about the political debut of his son, Khan says, “I was told by my party people to give Abdullah (his son making his debut from Suar Tanda) an easier seat. But I can never do such a thing. I want to make him a fighter.”
On the question of BSP giving tickets to 99 Muslims candidates, Khan sarcastically remarked, “Is not up to the mark. Mayawati should have given 403 tickets to Muslims. Why only 99?”
Akhilesh Yadav in his last roadshow at Rampur claimed, “We will get all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh, but Rampur is different. I don’t worry much about Rampur because I know Azam is there.”
Rampur will go to polls on Wednesday. On March 11, the verdict will be out on the ‘Azam Khan model’ of development.
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