Azam Khan skips meet, SP says his absence does not matter

Samajwadi Party's senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan was on Wednesday conspicuous by his absence at its National Executive meet in Agra.

"106 members hain, 26 nahi aaye to kya fark padta hai (There are 106 National Executive members, 26 were absent from the meet...it doesn't matter)," SP National General Secretary Ramgopal Yadav told reporters.

As per the official website of the SP, there are 61 members in the National Executive, including nine special invitees.

Khan, who is considered as the Muslim face of the SP, had expressed his concern over the meeting of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav with Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal.

He was reportedly not happy with how the state government handled the Muzaffarnagar violence.

The tone and tenor of Yadav suggested that the party did not want to give much importance to Khan.

Attacking the Congress, the party alleged that it could do anything to weaken the SP to strengthen its base in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Congress knows that without harming the SP, it cannot do anything in the state. It can do anything to harm the SP," Yadav said after the first round of the National Executive, in which political and economic resolutions were put up for discussion.

Asked if the SP will support the Congress again for the formation of the government at the Centre, Yadav said that it was a hypothetical question and he would not like to comment on it.

On the discussion on the formation of a Third Front, he said anything in this regard will be decided only after the Lok Sabha elections and at present, the party was focusing on fielding its candidates and contesting the polls on its own.