All 'false' cases against Azam Khan will be withdrawn once SP comes to power in UP: Akhilesh

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday welcomed veteran leader Azam Khan's release from jail, and announced that all "false" cases against him will be withdrawn once the party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.

Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister and a founder member of the SP, was released on bail from the Sitapur jail here after nearly two years of incarceration.

"Azam Khan is not only a founder member of the Samajwadi Party but has also played a key role in the Samajwadi (socialist) movement. Today is a moment of great joy... he has finally got justice," Yadav told reporters here.

The former chief minister said that once the SP forms its government in Uttar Pradesh, all "false cases" registered against Khan would be withdrawn.

Without taking any names, Yadav alleged that the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) withdrew all cases registered against himself, his deputy chief minister and other BJP leaders after the saffron party formed its government in the state.

"Just like the BJP government has withdrawn cases against its own leaders, under a Samajwadi Party government, false cases against Azam Khan and others will be withdrawn.

"Even journalists who have been targeted with fabricated cases will get relief," Yadav asserted.