A day after winning the Rampur seat, SP candidate Jaya Prada seemed to regard colleague Azam Khan’s campaigaining against her as a blessing in disguise.

“Had Azam Khan not opposed my candidature and the party, the people of Rampur would not have taken over the reins of my campaign in their hands. I did nothing; it's the people of Rampur who fought the election for me and gave a befitting reply to those opposing me and the Samajwadi Party,” said Jaya Prada. “Had Azam Khan not opposed me, I would have lost. Unko mera shukriya aur salam (I thank and salute him).”

“I contested the 2004 election from Rampur at the insistence of Azam Khan, but in 2009, he preferred to heap humiliation on me. But his abuses and curses turned into blessings for me. I will always regard him as my elder brother,” she added.

However, her supporters differed, with Maulana Farhat Jamali, Sajda-nashin of Dargah of Hazrat Hafiz Shah Jamal Ullah at Rampur, saying “it was impossible for us to ignore the good work done by her”.