Uttar Pradesh byelections: Azam Khan claims police terrorised voters

RAMPUR: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Thursday alleged that Uttar Pradesh police "wreaked havoc" on the eve of the Lok Sabha byelections in Azamgarh and Rampur.
He claimed "stick-wielding police personnel terrorised and humiliated voters and stopped them from going to polling booths on Thursday".
Khan blamed the police and administration for the low voter turnout in Rampur and Azamgarh.
The voter turnout for the Rampur Lok Sabha constituency was 41%.
“I am a criminal, I accept... so my city has also been presumed to be the same. They can do whatever they want with the city and its people, we have to endure. If I want to stay, I have to endure," Khan said.
"Police wreaked havoc overnight. Jeeps and sirens were everywhere in Rampur, they took people to police stations and beat them up. It is shameful,” he said after casting his vote at a polling booth near the Rampur Raza Degree College early on Thursday morning.
In a series of tweets, Azam’s son Abdullah Azam expressed his disappointment over the electoral process. “There is no use of such elections. Batons are weighing heavy over democracy. My country is changing. Voters from minority-concentrated areas are being turned away," he tweeted.
Rampur superintendent of police Ajay Kumar Shukla rejected the allegations. “We have taken cognisance of the allegations levelled by him (Azam Khan). I and the district magistrate Ravendra Kumar Mander are inspecting every polling station. No women or any other voter in the entire constituency was stopped by police.”
Rampur circle officer (city) Anuj Chaudhry, said, "Police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. The allegations that police were terrorising voters are false.”
For the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll, BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who had recently joined the party, while the SP has fielded Asim Raja, who was handpicked by Azam. BSP and Congress are not contesting from Rampur.
The Samajwadi party leader Muhammad Azam Khan's strong hold and his Vidhansabha constituency Rampur sadar recorded lowest 32.70% of votes into the by-election.