lucknow when samajwadi party president akhilesh yadav visited malihabad on tuesday for a mango feast it was not a mere coincidence that he was accompanied by party veteran azam khan and his son abdullah azam apart from a host of other leaders from rampur it was one of those moments which establish that azam who has been sps muslim face may be down but certainly not out of the partys scheme of things ahead of the lok sabha electionsbefore leaving for malihabad azam had spent more than two hours with akhilesh at the party office in lucknow discussing in detail political issues particularly those concerning the opposition alliances and strategy for the lok sabha electionsazam who had been away from daily party politics since february 2020 when he along with wife and son was sent to jail for a forged birth certificate filed by his son is back in party activitiesin the political circles azam khan active participation in party engagements is being seen as sps attempt to send a message to muslims that the party is not only harping about picharde backward classes and dalits but has muslims too on its pda agenda in the form of alpsankhyak minorities sp leadership is working hard to establish that the a in pda actually signifies muslims in the form of alpsankhyak said a political commentator this was reflected recently when akhilesh in his address and interviews to news channels said alpsankhyak muslim bhai while defining the pdaparty leaders however dismiss the hypothesis that azam has suddenly gained importance in sp thats not true let me tell you how said a senior leader adding that akhilesh started his bicycle campaign for the 2022 polls from rampur the sp chief led a delegation of senior leaders to submit a memorandum to the governor against how azam khan was being targeted for political motives then there were reports that the party supported senior sc lawyer kapil sibal for rajya sabha only because he fought azams case in the supreme court and finally secured his bail not only this in all the elections that have been held azams khans recommendation for the candidates in rampur has always been honoured he said this was not the first time that azam was a part of a recent party activity in may he was a part of the delegation that met moradabad divisional commissioner to submit a memorandum saying that he and his family were being targeted by investigating agencies azam has been regularly meeting party leaders and workers in rampur and preparing the ground for 2024 polls