Akhilesh Yadav defends Azam Khan over controversial remark against Jaya Prada

Muradabad: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday attempted to defend Azam Khan over his alleged remark against Jaya Prada. Putting the onus on the media, the former Uttar Pradesh CM said that Azam Khan's remark had been taken out of context.

At a time when Azam Khan is facing a massive backlash from political leaders and people at large, Akhilesh appeared to clearly side by the SP candidate from Rampur despite his alleged remark which was highly objectionable. "Azam Khan's statement has been shown in the wrong context. It was said with reference to someone else. The reference to the RSS clothes was made with reference to someone else," said Akhilesh at a rally here. "The media has goofed up in this matter and is showing something else."

Despite pointing fingers at the media and putting a proverbial shield over Azam Khan, Akhilesh's defence is unlikely to save the SP leader from scathing criticism.

Azam Khan had allegedly made a reference to Jaya Prada's reported links to RSS even when she was part of SP. The manner in which he allegedly chose to describe it has been labelled as crass and offensive to the dignity of women. He, however, has tried to deflect accusations against him by saying that he has been wrongly quoted.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered against Azam Khan while Jaya Prada, who is contesting from Rampur on a BJP ticket, has hit back fiercely - asking people to not vote for the SP candidate.

(Note: Zeenews.com has intentionally edited out the alleged remark made by Azam Khan from the above copy)