Azam Khan's Son Abdullah May be Debarred from Polls for 6 Years, Fate to be Decided by EC

Lucknow: The son of Azam Khan, Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament from Rampur, may get barred from contesting elections for next six years.

Abdullah Azam is currently lodged in the Sitapur jail. A letter has been written to the President of India in this regard on Thursday on behalf of the UP Legislative Secretariat. Now, with the consent of the Election Commission of India, an order banning his election participation can be issued.

The letter says that Abdullah Azam should be barred from contesting the polls under Section 8-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if convicted of corrupt conduct. The President may issue an order to ban Abdullah from contesting elections after obtaining consent from the Election Commission.

The letter said the Allahabad High Court has held Abdullah guilty of corrupt conduct due to misrepresentation of his date of birth. Abdullah was an MLA from the Swar assembly seat in Rampur and now this order, if agreed upon, may come as a big setback for Azam Khan’s family as the bypolls are to be conducted soon on the Swar assembly seat.

Abdullah was elected as an MLA from Swar in 2017 when he was not 25 years old. He was accused of contesting and winning elections on the basis of a fake birth date. The Allahabad High Court held his election invalid in December 2018 after the allegations were found true. The Assembly Secretariat had issued a notification dismissing his membership.

Abdullah is currently in Sitapur Jail along with his father Azam Khan and mother Tazin Fatima. If he is barred from contesting the elections, he won’t be able to contest the bypolls. There were speculations in the political circles that the Samajwadi Party may field Abdullah again from the Swar assembly seat for bypolls.

Nawab Kazim Ali Khan alias Naved Mian, a former MLA of Rampur district, had written a letter asking for a ban on Abdullah from contesting elections. In it, Section 8 (1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 has been mentioned for disqualifying Abdullah from contesting elections. The letter was consulted by the Legislative Department by the Legislative Secretariat.