BAREILLY: With many Samajwadi Party leaders jumping ship to join Shivpal Yadav's Samajwadi Secular Morcha, rumours of senior SP leader Azam Khan joining the new outfit were afoot on social media. The Meerut unit of SP led by district president Rajpal Singh took cognizance of the floating rumours and lodged a complaint with superintendent of police (city) Ranvijay Singh, claiming that miscreants were trying to ruin the reputation of SP by fuelling such rumours.Shivpal Yadav had recently floated SSM after his tussle with nephew Akhilesh Yadav had reached an irreconcilable level. Shivpal, sidelined in SP, floated the new political outfit and has been reaching out to his loyalists to gain support for the party, which is being dubbed as BJP's 'B-team' by rivals.Recently, former Rajya Sabha MP Veerpal Singh Yadav switched sides to join SSM. Veerpal is one of the most prominent leaders in Bareilly region and his support to Shivpal was seen as a major shot in the arm for the latter. Meanwhile, senior SP leaders in Meerut demanded that an FIR under IT Act be lodged. "The rumours are being spread to denigrate the image of SP. There is a conspiracy behind these rumours," party district president Rajpal Singh said.

Stay updated with all the Bareilly Lates News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.