RAMPUR: Samajwadi party leader Mohd Azam Khan has alleged that the BJP was “exploiting” the name of Lord Ram and the Ram Temple issue to gain political mileage ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

“Ayodhya is the birthplace of ram, but BJP leaders and preachers should identify from among the numerous the real Ram Temple,” he said.

“BJP is well aware of the outcome of 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. Hence it has been carrying on a vicious campaign to exploit Lord Ram and the Ram temple issue to gain political mileage,” he alleged. Khan, the state rural development minister and local MLA, was interacting with media persons on sidelines of inauguration of an electronic rickshaw factory here last evening. Training his guns on arch rival Bahujan Samaj Party, the SP leader said, “Either Mayawati will come out of BSP on her own or the party cadre would show her the exit because eminent figures of the party have started blaming ‘Behenji’ for her misdeeds.” He claimed the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had used his “influence” to ensure victory of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in the 1952 Lok Sabha elections from Rampur. Khan alleged that there was little development of Rampur when Azad represented the constituency. He blamed the Nawabs of the erstwhile Rampur State for the woes of the people and accused them of targeting the peasantry.–PTI