Five years ago, all leading parties in Uttar Pradesh — be it the BSP, Congress or BJP — vehemently objected to SP leader Azam Khan’s plans for the Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar University at Aliganj near Rampur, calling it a “political stunt to woo Muslims”. With Azam Khan now revolting over Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tie-up with Kalyan Singh and calling for the defeat of Rampur SP candidate Jaya Prada, suddenly all parties are in favour of the university named after the Khilafat leader and first vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.

Both BSP and Congress chiefs Mayawati and Sonia Gandhi have spoken in favour of the university which, incidentally, still awaits an authorisation letter from the Mayawati government to start functioning. Its building at Aliganj is ready but its boundary wall was demolished at several places by the state government earlier on the ground that paths to several villages were being blocked.

Azam Khan, who had declared himself lifelong pro-chancellor of the proposed university much to the annoyance of Governor T V Rajeswar, maintained that the passages were dead-ends and since he had bought the entire land, there was no justification to demolish the wall. Planned as a centre for higher studies in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, the university was to add medicine, engineering, law and other disciplines later.

One of the most vocal critics of the university was Begum Noor Bano of the Congress who even wrote to Rajeswar, urging him not to give assent to the related Bill. With Khan now an SP rebel, Noor Bano, who lost to Jaya Prada in 2004 but is back in the fray in Rampur, says she has his tacit support.

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