“You think I’ll get scared and leave Rampur? But I won’t leave,”: Jaya Prada hits back at Azam Khan

LUCKNOW: Jaya Prada, the apparent target of an outrageous comment by former colleague-turned-rival candidate Azam Khan of the Samajwadi Party, said today that he should not be allowed to contest elections for the sake of democracy and for women. “Should I die? Then will you be satisfied,” the former actor, a BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, said today.

“You think I’ll get scared and leave Rampur? But I won’t leave,” Jaya Prada, 57, said.

“He shouldn’t be allowed to contest elections. Because if this man wins, what will happen to democracy? There’ll be no place for women in society,” she said.

On Sunday, Azam Khan said at an election rally, in Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s presence: “For 10 years the person sucked the blood of Rampur, I held that person’s finger and brought the person to Rampur. I made her familiar with the streets of Rampur. I didn’t let anyone touch her. No dirty words were used. You made the person your representative for 10 years. It took you 17 years to understand the person’s real face. I realised in 17 days that the underwear beneath is of the khaki colour.”

The comments have provoked waves of disgust and anger. Azam Khan, who once helped Jaya Prada in Rampur when she was a Samajwadi Party candidate, is a repeat offender when it comes to unfiltered statements. In the past, his comments even had Jaya Prada bursting into tears on stage.

After joining the BJP last month, Jaya Prada said she was driven out of Rampur because of abuses, indecent photos of her and even an acid attack attempt.

She said abuses from Azam Khan were not new for her. “You might remember that I was a candidate from his party in 2009 when no one supported me after he made comments against me. I’m a woman and I can’t even repeat some of the words he used for me. I don’t know what I did to him that he is saying such things.”