On May 20, as senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohammad Azam Khan was released from a jail in Sitapur after spending 27 months there, what stood out was that his former colleague and estranged uncle of party president Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, was physically present to greet him.
Mr. Akhilesh, who was in Lucknow attending a special session of the Assembly, welcomed Mr. Khan’s release with a tweet even as some second-line SP leaders were at the spot. “Lies last only for moments, not centuries,” he tweeted in reference to the dozens of alleged false cases lodged against Mr. Khan by the State government.
Ever since loyalists of Mr. Khan came out in public to accuse Mr. Akhilesh of not doing enough to support the incarcerated leader from Rampur, Mr. Shivpal increased overtures and indicated he was interested in building a new political alliance with Mr. Khan.
