Father-son duo of Azam Khan, Abdullah Azam to fight in second phase of UP polls

Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 13 (ANI): With just hours to go for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, some key constituencies are likely to throw interesting electoral battles.
While Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan will fight against Congress's Nawab Kazim Ali Khan in Rampur, his son Abdullah Azam (also an SP candidate) and Haider Ali Khan will contest from Suar constituency.
Nawab Kazim Ali Khan and Haider Ali Khan will contest on Congress and Apna Dal tickets respectively.
In Rampur, Akash Saxena is contesting as a BJP candidate against Azam and Kazim.
In the past, Kazim won from Suar twice, first in 2007 as an SP candidate and in 2012 as a Congress candidate.
Azam Khan has been languishing in jail since February 2020 and is facing nearly 100 criminal cases.
When asked about the clash, Kazim told ANI, "Samajwadi party is on a decline and will face the same fate as BSP. Azam is trying to cling on everything right now. I am occupied in Rampur. I don't know what is happening in Suar. People will decide the fate."
Azam Khan has won the Rampur assembly seat nine times since 1980. In 2019, he won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat while his wife contested in the assembly bypoll in 2019.
Kazim's parents won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat seven times as Congress candidates. His mother Begum Noor Bano won this seat twice in the 1990s. His father Syed Zulfikar Ali Khan won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat five times from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Kazim is directly challenging Azam Khan for the first time.
The second phase of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will take place tomorrow that will seal the fate of 586 candidates on 55 Assembly seats.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)