Samajwadi Party Names Azam Khan Aide Asim Raja For Rampur Bypoll | Read

Ending prolonged suspense that continued till the last day of nominations, the Samajwadi Party today declared Asim Raja as its candidate from Rampur for the Lok Sabha bypolls. Mr Raja, the Rampur city president of the party, is a close aide of party strongman and 10 time MLA Azam Khan. The last-minute announcement comes days after party chief Akhilesh Yadav met Mr Khan in Delhi following speculations of a rift. In a two hour chat with the sulking leader at a hospital, Mr Yadav had reportedly discussed the Rampur bypolls and left it to him to decide the candidate. Azam Khan had claimed that they hadn't met for over three years suggesting being overlooked and ignored by the party leadership.