Lucknow, 23 Sept

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday welcomed veteran leader Azam Khan's release from jail, and announced that all "false" cases against him will be withdrawn once the party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.

Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister and a founder member of the SP, was released on bail from the Sitapur jail here after nearly two years of incarceration.

"Azam Khan is not only a founder member of the Samajwadi Party but has also played a key role in the Samajwadi (socialist) movement. Khan is with the Samajwadi Party, with our founder Netaji, and with all of us.

"His role, along with other socialists, in fighting the BJP has always been significant. Today is a moment of great joy... he has finally got justice," Yadav told reporters here.

The former chief minister said that once the SP forms its government in Uttar Pradesh, all "false cases" registered against Khan would be withdrawn.

Without taking any names, Yadav alleged that the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) withdrew all cases registered against himself, his deputy chief minister and other BJP leaders after the saffron party formed its government in the state.

"Just like the BJP government has withdrawn cases against its own leaders, under a Samajwadi Party government, false cases against Azam Khan and others will be withdrawn.

"Even journalists who have been targeted with fabricated cases will get relief," Yadav asserted.

He also thanked the court for granting bail to Khan.

"This is what we Samajwadis have always believed that the courts will deliver justice, and today he (Khan) has got it. We hope that in the coming days not a single false case will remain," he said.

On the state government ordering the removal of caste references from police records, public notices and banning caste-based rallies and public events, Yadav said the BJP was afraid of the PDA uniting.

"Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar himself faced bias because of caste. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia kept saying all his life that to break caste, only then will a just society be formed.

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) too kept struggling for this, and we all kept uniting people. At different times, in the name of Bahujan Samaj, we all came together. Today, the BJP is afraid of the PDA (backwards, Dalit, and minority) communities uniting," he said.

"Although this is a High Court decision, I believe our first emotional bond is with caste, and no one can deny that," Yadav added.

The PDA stands for Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak (backward, Dalit, minorities), an abbreviation coined by Yadav, who constantly cites it in his statements.

Yadav also raised the issue of BJP workers allegedly washing a temple in Kannauj after the SP chief's visit in May to raise questions on the saffron party's real intentions.

"No one should break our homes based on caste, no statues should be demolished based on caste... if I walk into a temple, the temple should not be washed with Ganga water because of my caste. We hope that in the future the court will also ensure that caste discrimination ends," Yadav said.

Yadav had visited the Siddh Baba Gaurishankar Mahadev temple to offer prayers and sought the blessings of the Lord. Subsequently, the BJP workers allegedly washed the temple with the holy Ganga water.