Retired IRS officer Zubair Maod Khan has emerged as the rallying point for anti-Azam Khan forces in Rampur. Under one roof, he alone can bring supporters of BSP and BJP besides social activists and locals to put their heads together to assess various factors that can clarify who's best placed to defeat Azam Khan. Yet, it's not clear whether he may succeed in his post-retirement initiative to free his native place Rampur of the most rabid Islamists who loves his five-star buffaloes more than the people of Rampur.
Rampur with five seats has the largest concentration of Muslims in a single district. Rampur seat itself that has 3.17 lakh voters, 58 percent of them are Muslim. Jatavs count for 17 percent; the other 25 percent includes Yadavs and Shakyas. Azam is confident that most of the Muslim vote will go to the SP in all five seats, although all parties barring the BJP have fielded Muslim candidates.