The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday, 7 November sharply counter-attacked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Nabin after he criticised the SP over its support for party leader Azam Khan, currently in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case. SP legislators accused the BJP of harbouring its own criminal elements, asserting that 'all mafias and goons are associated with the BJP and are seen alongside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.'

What Triggered the Exchange

The row erupted after Nabin accused the SP leadership of pursuing vote-bank politics by standing with people linked to criminal elements. 'These are the same people who gave Uttar Pradesh the identity of One District, One Mafia. During the Samajwadi Party government, every district had a strongman, and they used these figures to gain and maintain power,' Nabin said, responding to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's claims of injustice against Khan.

SP's Rebuttal: Naming Districts and Communities

SP MLA Sangram Yadav hit back with pointed questions, challenging the BJP to define who qualifies as a mafia. 'Can't you see who the mafia from Varanasi is sitting with? Who the mafias from Jaunpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Deoria and Allahabad are associated with? Do you only see PDA members as mafias?' he said. Yadav further cited a case in which the Allahabad High Court had questioned how certain individuals obtained weapon licences, alleging that one of them displayed 500 weapons on Dussehra. 'It is the BJP which is the party of mafias, goons and corruption,' he claimed.

SP Eyes 2027 Polls as the Real Verdict

SP MLA Jai Kishan Sahu framed the controversy in terms of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2027, asserting that voters will respond at the ballot box. 'The people of Uttar Pradesh are watching everything closely. Voters would give a strong reply in the 2027 Assembly elections and elect an Akhilesh Yadav-led government,' Sahu said, also alleging that under both the Central and state governments, young people are searching for jobs while students demanding employment are being met with police batons.

BJP Stands Firm, Cites Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari

BJP MP Prakash Pal backed Nabin's remarks, invoking the names of now-deceased gangster-politicians Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari as evidence of SP-era lawlessness. 'There used to be at least one mafia in every district, whose muscle power was used to illegally occupy people's land and properties,' Pal claimed. He alleged that judges had refused to hear cases involving Atiq Ahmed and that a pond was reportedly built inside jail for Mukhtar Ansari. Pal added that under Chief Minister Adityanath's government such mafias have been completely eliminated, though this claim is his own and not independently verified.

The Broader Political Context

The exchange is the latest flare-up in a long-running BJP-SP battle over law and order narratives in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and a pivotal electoral battleground. With Azam Khan remaining a polarising figure, both parties are seeking to define the mafia label on their own terms ahead of 2027. The SP's counter-offensive — shifting from defending Khan to attacking BJP's own associations — signals an increasingly aggressive pre-election posture from the opposition.