Azam Khan’s three-year sentence in a case of hate speech from 2019 is just one instance where he has been punished for loathsome comments.
Khan has been known for his misogynistic and often provocative statements, not just during electioneering but even otherwise.
In the 2019 case under consideration, he had made an open call for seeking vengeance against the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and PM Narendra Modi. He had called ‘people occupying constitutional posts,’ dishonest, cruel and culprits.
He had called upon his supporters ‘badla lo, badla lo’ (seek revenge) for the supposed atrocities that had been directed against him.
During the same election, he had also called his supporters to hold on steadily and not be afraid of any ‘collector-phollector’ (district magistrate).
“These are tankhaiyas (salary earners). Have you seen how they polish Mayawati’s shoes with their handkerchiefs? If we come to power, I will make them clean Mayawati’s shoes,” he said.
The Samajwadi Party was then fighting the election in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The same year he had spoken about Jaya Prada, two time MP from Rampur. He said, “We brought her to Rampur and led her by the finger to know it( the constituency)…it took me just 17 days to recognise that the underwear that she wears is khakhi.” The dull yellowish-brown colour he was referring to, is same as that worn by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
He had gone on to win the election, and a few months later, made an unsavoury remark against MP Rama Devi, who was occupying the Speaker’s chair during a session. He had said, “I can look into your eyes for so long that you will ask me to remove my gaze.”
In 2014, at an election rally in Sambhal, he called Narendra Modi a murderer and a rioter. He also added that Modi was the elder brother of the young of a dog.
In 2016, he had dared Yogi Adityanath, then a MP from Gorakhpur, to prove his masculinity by getting married.