Lucknow, May 12 (IANS): In a surprise development, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has come out in support of senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Azam Khan, once considered her bete noire.

Mayawati, in a series of tweets on Thursday, said his continued incarceration is being regarded as a 'strangulation of justice' by the common man.

Mayawati also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government for allegedly targeting the poor, Dalits, tribals and Muslims and also harassing its political opponents.

She said, "In Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states, Muslims are being harassed by making them victims of atrocities ..."

She further said, "In this sequence, the matter of continuous hateful and terror (like) action by the UP government on its opponents and keeping senior MLA Mohammad Azam Khan in jail for about two-and-a-half years is in the news which, in the eyes of the people, if not strangulating justice, then what is it?"

Mohd Azam Khan, a senior SP leader and MLA from Rampur, is currently in jail on several charges, including corruption. Khan has been lodged in the Sitapur jail for over two years.

He has got bail in 88 out of 89 cases. However, he will be released from jail only after the bail is granted in the last case.