Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Saturday claimed that it was the Samajwadi Party's "friendship" with Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari that led to its debacle in the state. Maurya told reporters at party headquarters here, "Akhilesh Yadav has three friends Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar. Two of them are not alive anymore. But this friendship led to the wiping out of Samajwadi Party." Gangster-Politician Atiq Ahmed was gunned down in police custody in Prayagraj last year while Mukhtar Ahmed died of cardiac arrest in hospital in Banda last month. Former cabinet minister Azam Khan is currently lodged in Sitapur jail after being convicted in multiple cases. Maurya said SP and Congress refused the invitation for the inauguration ceremony of Ram temple and the public now will now refuse them their votes. "It was surprising that even when speaker of Legislative assembly Satish Maahan invited all assembly members to accompany him to visit the Ram Temp Read The Rest at :