PROVE DAWOOD-MODI MEETING OR SACK AZAM: BJP TO AKHILESH

Lucknow, The BJP on Tuesday demanded that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sack his minister Azam Khan for his “baseless allegations” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan.

Azam Khan, the state parliamentary affairs minister, has alleged that during his brief stopover in Pakistan in December last year, Modi held a closed door meeting with Dawood Ibrahim at the residence of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.

The BJP’s state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said either the minister should be asked to furnish proof of his allegations or should be forced out of the cabinet.

“The Samajwadi Party leadership has so far given a long rope to Azam Khan and I think time has come to put an end to his habit of levelling baseless allegations and rein in the loose cannon,” Pathak said.

The BJP leader said Azam Khan had earlier made a statement that Dawood had funded the birthday of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Rampur two years back.

“Rather than checking the bad conduct of the minister, the silence of the ruling party, especially the chief minister, seems to be emboldening Azam Khan into making both uncharitable remarks and unsubstantiated allegations,” the BJP leader said.

Azam Khan has in the past sparked off controversies which have put the state government in a tight spot.