Archive · 14 Aug 2026
SP says jailed Azam Khan to be UP home minister
A political leader named Shivpal Yadav made a big promise about the 2027 elections.
He said that if his party, the Samajwadi Party, wins in Uttar Pradesh, a jailed leader named Azam Khan will become the state's Home Minister.
The Home Minister is the person who is in charge of keeping the state safe and running the police.
Shivpal Yadav visited Azam Khan in jail and also met his wife and son at their home.
He then went to a university that Azam Khan helped build, called Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
The city's development office had ordered 38 of the university's 40 buildings to be torn down because they were built without proper approval.
A senior official stopped the demolition for now, and Shivpal Yadav said the university will be an important issue in the elections.
Uttar Pradesh's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, strongly disagreed with the promise and said the party wants to stir up trouble again.
He also accused the university of being named after a person he said was bad for India.
So now there is a big argument between two political parties, and people will watch what happens next.
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav said jailed former UP minister Azam Khan would be made Home Minister if the SP wins the 2027 UP Assembly elections.
Yadav spoke after meeting Khan and his younger son Abdullah Azam at Rampur District Jail, and also met Khan's wife Tanzeem Fatima at their residence.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the remark at a Partition memorial function in Lucknow, calling the SP's mindset 'shameful' and saying it wants to incite riots again.
Yadav visited Mohammad Ali Jauhar University with Khan's elder son Adeeb Azam Khan, where the Rampur Development Authority had ordered demolition of 38 of its 40 buildings before a stay by the Moradabad divisional commissioner.
Yadav urged party workers to launch a full-scale campaign for 2027 to defeat opponents, make Akhilesh Yadav chief minister, and said officials behind action against Khan and the university would be punished when SP returns to power.
- Who
- Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Jaswantnagar MLA Shivpal Yadav made the announcement; jailed former UP minister Azam Khan, his wife Tanzeem Fatima, sons Abdullah Azam and Adeeb Azam Khan, and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath feature in the story.
- What
- Yadav said Azam Khan will be made Uttar Pradesh's Home Minister if the SP wins the 2027 Assembly elections, and visited Mohammad Ali Jauhar University amid a demolition controversy; Adityanath hit back at the pledge.
- When
- Yadav's statement: Wednesday, August 12, 2026; Adityanath's criticism: Friday, August 14, 2026.
- Where
- Rampur District Jail, Mohammad Ali Jauhar University and the SP office in Rampur; Adityanath spoke in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- Why
- Yadav said the SP must defeat opponents and form a government with Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister, calling the cases against Khan and his family false; Adityanath called the promise a shameful mindset aimed at inciting riots.
Samajwadi Party / Shivpal Yadav
BJP government / Yogi Adityanath / Rampur Development Authority
Mohammad Ali Jauhar University demolition
Samajwadi Party / Shivpal Yadav
Yadav called the demolition order political vendetta and accused the BJP government of 'committing atrocities' in education; he said officials responsible for action against Khan and the university would be punished when the SP returns to power.
BJP government / Yogi Adityanath / Rampur Development Authority
The Rampur Development Authority ordered demolition of 38 of the university's 40 buildings under Section 27(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, claiming they were constructed without approved building plans or required approvals.
Criminal cases against Azam Khan
Samajwadi Party / Shivpal Yadav
Yadav said 'false cases' with several criminal charges were registered against Azam Khan, Abdullah Azam and Tanzeem Fatima despite their seniority as MLAs, MPs and Rajya Sabha members.
BJP government / Yogi Adityanath / Rampur Development Authority
Khan was sentenced to two years in prison over a controversial remark made during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign, and is lodged in jail in connection with multiple cases.
Legacy of the university's namesake
Samajwadi Party / Shivpal Yadav
Yadav defended the university, saying MLAs, MPs and the public donated generously to build it, and said people usually support education no matter which government is in power.
BJP government / Yogi Adityanath / Rampur Development Authority
Adityanath said the university is named after Mohammad Ali Jauhar, whom he called responsible for opposing India's independence and for the Partition of India, and that the SP's Home Minister pledge shows a shameful mindset to incite riots.
- Party
- Samajwadi Party (SP)
- Announcement
- Azam Khan to be made Uttar Pradesh Home Minister if SP wins the 2027 Assembly elections
- Speaker
- Shivpal Yadav, SP MLA from Jaswantnagar
- Azam Khan's record
- 10-time MLA, two-time MP and former UP minister; currently jailed at Rampur District Jail
- Azam Khan's sentence
- Two years in prison over a controversial remark in the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign
- Chief ministerial pick
- Akhilesh Yadav
- University demolition
- Rampur Development Authority ordered demolition of 38 of 40 buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University; stayed by Moradabad divisional commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh
- Adityanath's response
- Called the SP's mindset 'shameful' and accused it of wanting to incite riots, at a Partition memorial function in Lucknow
