Azam’s loyalist Asim Raza lost the Lok Sabha by-election to BJP’s Ghanshyam Lodhi. (File photo)The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh demanding the removal of Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh “to ensure an impartial election” during the upcoming bypoll for Rampur Sadar Assembly seat.
In the letter, state SP president Naresh Uttam Patel wrote that during the 2022 Assembly polls, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh was accused “of working like a BJP worker”.
“A complaint regarding this was sent to CEO on January 29, 2022… seeking transfer of Singh… He has been the District Magistrate of Rampur for a long time and has been posted as Moradabad Divisional Commissioner for a long time. Rampur district also falls in Moradabad division… A free, fair, and fearless election is only possible if Singh is removed from his post,” Patel wrote. The bypoll to Rampur Sadar Assembly seat will be held along with the election in Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat on December 5. Rampur Sadar Assembly seat was declared vacant after SP MLA Azam Khan was disqualified from the Assembly following his conviction in a 2019 hate speech case.
In June this year, by-election was held in Rampur Lok Sabha seat after Azam Khan, who was elected as an MLA from Rampur Sadar, quit as an MP to retain the Assembly membership. Azam’s loyalist Asim Raza lost the Lok Sabha by-election to BJP’s Ghanshyam Lodhi.