Azam Khan has been an MLA for nine terms; all from Rampur assembly constituency. He was also a cabinet minister in the government of Uttar Pradesh. Khan is currently a member of the Samajwadi Party but has been a member of four other political parties between 1980 and 1992. During his first term, he was a member of Janata Party. During his second term, he was a member of the Lok Dal. Khan was a member of Janata Dal during his third term. In his fourth term, Azam Khan was a member of Janata Party. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Samajwadi Party. Azam Khan also was a post holder in Samajwadi Party however on 17 May 2009 he resigned from the general secretary post of the party. However, during the 15th Loksabha elections, his opposition to the Samajwadi Party candidate, Jaya Prada, and the surrounding controversies resulted in a crisis in the party, and on 24 May 2009, he says he was expelled for six years The Samajwadi Party later revoked his expulsion and he rejoined on 4 December 2010. After his successful win in 2014, Khan has been given ticket from Rampur constituency by the Samajwadi Party for the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.
Legal cases
Khan has 80 legal cases against him related to land encroachment and criminal intimidation registered against him. Rampur SP Ajay Pal Singh investigating the one of the cases of land grab confirmed that claims of the complainants about looting of household items, jewellery and domestic cattle were true. There are several cases of land grab registered against the NGO Jauhar trust founded by Khan. In January 2020, the Rampur local administration initiated the return of occupied land to the rightful owners with around 17 bigha of land being handed over to 6 farmers. In January 2019, a case of forgery was lodged against Khan, his wife Tazeen Fatma and son with respect to the birth certificate of his son Abdullah at a local police station in Uttar Pradesh. However in March 2019, the Allahabad High Court stayed their arrest until the probe was completed by the police. In January 2020, the court declared the three, Abdullah and his parents, to be absconders for failing to appear in the court during the hearings of the case. Following this, the Enforcement Directorate will be attaching the properties of Azam from the first week of February onward. On 26 February 2020, he was sent to the jail along with his wife and son for making fake birth certificate of his son. He has found support from party leader Akhilesh Yadav who claimed the cases were politically motivated.
In 2015, in response to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's statements in support of decriminalization of homosexuality in India, Azam Khan reportedly made homophobic remarks, calling RSS leaders homosexuals. A day later, Kamlesh Tiwari, later the founder of Hindu Samaj Party, issued a press statement slamming Azam for his comment against the RSS. He also allegedly made objectionable comments against the Prophet. Tiwari's response sparked protests by conservative Indian Muslims, with some demanding a death penalty for Tiwari. Tiwari was subsequently arrested, charged under National Security Act, and jailed for a few months by the Uttar Pradesh Police. Tiwari was later shot, stabbed, and had his throat slit by two assailants in Lucknow, which UP police state was motivated by his response.
