Lucknow: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday came out in support of party MP Mohd Azam Khan who is embroiled in cases of alleged land grabbing, theft and encroachment cases. The two leaders have a three-decade-old relationship. Questions were raised on Mulayam's studied silence on the allegations against Khan.

To dispel rumours that all is not well between the two leaders, Mulayam chose to address a press conference after almost two years. Mulayam heaped praised on Khan saying "he's worked diligently as a politician all his life".

The septuagenarian leader alleged Azam was being "wrongfully implicated" in the land-grab cases registered against Jauhar Univesity. "Donations for the University was procured lawfully."

Mulayam wondered why dozens of cases were slapped against Azam Khan for a matter of two bigha land.

Meanwhile, two fresh cases were today registered against the SP MP taking the total number of criminal cases to 78.

A local Samajwadi Party leader had recently told news agency IANS that most of Khan's supporters have gone underground fearing action. "Azam Khan has been away for quite some time and we have not seen his supporters either. Apparently no one wants to get caught in this crossfire between Azam Khan and the state government," said the SP leader.

SP leaders like Bhagwati Singh and Ram Govind Chaudhary, have also maintained a radio silence on the allegations against Khan.

The Samajwadi Party just held a one-day demonstration in Khan's support and SP President Akhilesh Yadav gave it a miss.