Muslim cleric accuses SP of selling minority votes, calls for boycott

Bareilly (UP), May 1 (IANS) Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, has alleged that SP was “selling minority votes. He called upon the community to “boycott SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his party, and vote either for the BSP or press NOTA.The cleric said, “Akhilesh never stood by us and did not give proper respect to our leaders. Even veteran SP leader Azam Khan was not given any space in the party’s posters. This clearly shows he is not interested in us.It may be recalled that tension erupted between SP and Shahabuddin after SP member Haider Ali, who is also associated with Aala Hazrat Dargah, was “not invited on to the stage at a poll rally of Akhilesh in Bareilly on Sunday.Ali later staged a protest against his own party workers and Shahabuddin also raised the matter, which he claimed was an “insult.State Vice President of the SP’s minority cell, Anish Ahmed Khan, said, “Shahabuddin is defaming Muslims. Azam Khan’s stature in SP is still the same. His photographs are present in all party offices in the state. He is our party’s founder member.--IANSamita/rad

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