In Maharashtra, the Samajwadi Party is known only by one man—Abu Asim Azmi. The party may well be led by the Yadav family, but outside of its home turf, Uttar Pradesh, the SP has a presence in Maharashtra, largely due to the efforts of Azmi. The politician has had a controversial career, first jumping into the spotlight for his arrest under the stringent TADA or Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in the early 1990s. He was arrested for allegedly arranging flight tickets for a man who was accused in the 1993 bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai city. After spending two years in jail, he was acquitted and that paved the way for his career in politics.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, then the president of the SP, appointed Azmi as the party president in Maharashtra, recognising the following Azmi had gathered among the Muslims hailing from the north of India but residing in Maharashtra. In its first election in Maharashtra, the SP, led by Azmi, won three assembly seats but the MLAs didn’t stay in the party for long. Azmi was accused of being authoritarian and dictatorial in his working style. With no other senior leader in Maharashtra, he treated the party as his fiefdom. But the leadership believed that Azmi could bring them results and sent him to the Rajya Sabha in 2002. He contested by lost the 2004 state assembly elections but won from Mankhurd, a Muslim-majority constituency in 2009 and is currently an MLA from Mankhurd.
Even as a member of the legislative assembly, Azmi’s career has been stormy. He’s been a polarising figure known for making intemperate statements. He even got into a physical fight with MLAs from Raj Thackeray’s MNS a few years ago. He had a fall out with party colleague Rais Shaikh who was known to be a more moderate and progressive face. Nawab Mallik, who contested against him from Mankhurd this time, has time and again, accused Azmi of allowing a drug trade to flourish under his watch. Although he claims to fight ‘fascist forces’ in Maharashtra, his speeches have always been polarising.
Azmi’s son Farhan unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai and since then has withdrawn from active politics. He focuses on running his restaurants along with his wife Ayesha Takia, a former actress. In 2018, an FIR was filed against Farhan for cheating but he was granted pre-arrest bail. The 2024 assembly elections may prove to be crucial for Azmi as he faces two prominent candidates from Mankhurd. The party has lost most of his known faces who have accused Azmi of running the party as a ‘private limited company’.
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