SP's Azam Khan confident of party candidate's victory in Swar bypoll

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan said Anuradha Chauhan, the party's candidate for the Swar assembly constituency bypoll, is the ''pride'' of the people and asserted that she will win the election.

Referring to his son's conviction by a court and subsequent disqualification as an MLA that necessitated the bypoll, Khan said, ''Abdullah Azam has been disqualified (from the assembly) twice… There is no one who can defeat him.'' The seat, which will go to the polls on May 10, was declared vacant from February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam to two years in jail in a 15-year old case. In 2020, Allahabad High Court set aside his election for hiding his age in the affidavit. Khan himself was disqualified last year after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case. Appealing to the electorate to vote for the party candidate during an election rally late on Sunday, Khan said, ''Anuradha Chauhan is our pride. If there is any injustice (in terms of poll results), it will be a deceit.'' The former minister also targeted the BJP and said, ''Those who level allegations of communalism should be given a befitting reply and they should know that she (Chauhan) is our sister.'' He also took potshots at the BJP's alliance partner Apna Dal (Sonelal), saying, ''The candidate who has come with a plate (referring to the party's cup-plate election symbol)... he is with those people who want to give a knife to your innocent generations.''