In slap spotlight,Azmi has never turned the other cheek

The seeds of the flashpoint were sown in early 2008 when 54-year-old Azmi promised to distribute lathis or sticks to migrants in Mumbai to protect themselves. MNS chief Raj Thackeray retaliated to this by threatening to distribute swords among his supporters. That war of words saw MNS supporters attacking migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and Thackeray upping the ante on his sons-of-the-soil campaign.

Azmi has since remained in the headlines,building his constituency among North Indian migrants in the financial capital. It did not help him in the Lok Sabha polls though and he was defeated in the Mumbai North-West constituency,his second successive defeat after losing from Bhiwandi in 2004. Azmi,however,came up trumps in the recent Assembly polls,and contested and won from two seats — Mankhurd-Shivajinagar in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs and Bhiwandi East.

While Azmi was among of the richest candidates in the country,contesting the Lok Sabha polls with declared assets of Rs 122 crore,his aides and supporters say he belongs to a “middle-class family” and is a “self-made man”,a rags-to-riches story.

Born in Manjeer Patti in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh,Azmi,who is the Mumbai and Maharashtra chief of the SP,came to Mumbai in 1973 to help his ailing father,Haji Niyaz Ahmad Azmi. Azmi Sr had come to the metropolis three years earlier to pursue his business of embroidering garments for export.

Azmi’s aides recall how their leader,who is a BA degree holder and the father of six,came to Mumbai “with a few hundred rupees in his pocket”,cut his teeth in the city doing small jobs,and gradually built a business empire consisting of hotels,construction firm,travel agency,shoe stores and an export firm. Azmi,whose son Farhan is married to Bollywood actor Ayesha Takia,is also described by associates as one of the largest manpower exporters to the Middle East.

But his life has not been without its fair share of drama. Azmi was arrested for allegedly booking tickets for people involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts but was discharged by the apex court after a year in jail. That,Azmi says,was the “turning point” in his life.

“I was framed 101 per cent,” says a bristling Azmi,alleging that it was his work for the riot-affected that put him in the crosshairs of the government. “It taught me how the minorities can be framed in the country,” said Azmi,adding that he opted for Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP as it had played a role in empowering minorities in his native Uttar Pradesh.

A Deobandi Muslim and Rajya Sabha MP from 2002 to 2006,Azmi says he has no “personal enmity” with Raj Thackeray,and that he was only speaking out against the anti-migrant campaign launched by his MNS and seeking “strict action against those opposing Hindi”. His aides claim that Azmi saheb has dedicated his life to “the cause of the Muslim community” and point out that he had spoken out against the government in the Malegaon bomb blasts and the Ishrat Jahan encounter case even in the face of opposition.

Azmi’s associates refuted charges that he is a radical and said he spoke out against “victimisation” of Muslims and was “a Muslim opposition to a secular government”,unlike Muslim leaders from the Congress-NCP who were “part of the establishment” and never stood up against it.

However,despite Azmi’s fire-and-brimstone image,his detractors accuse him of associating the SP with a section of the minority community and blame this for the decline in the party’s fortunes in the state. In 1995,the SP won three seats in the Assembly,and two in 1999. But,in 2004,two party MLAs switched over to the NCP. In 2004,the SP drew a blank in the polls,with 91 of its 95 candidates forfeiting their deposits and the party’s vote share slipped from 14.31 per cent to 3.28 per cent. However,Azmi blamed it on the Congress wanting to weaken the SP to avoid vote banks from being divided.

THERE WERE OTHERS WHO DID NOT TAKE OATH IN MARATHI

Amin Patel (Congress)

Amin Patel,who speaks fluent Marathi,and was elected to the state Assembly for the first time from Mumbadevi in South Mumbai,took his oath in Hindi to protest against MNS legislators roughing up Azmi. A confidant of Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora,Patel (46) began his career in politics by joining the Congress in 1985 and was appointed as the general secretary of the Youth Congress South Central Mumbai District in 1988. Patel was nominated as a corporator in 2002,and was elected to the civic body in 2007 defeating corporator Suresh Kale. He also headed the Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation.

Girish Bapat (BJP)

The RSS loyalist and BJP MLA from Kasba Peth in Pune took his oath in Sanskrit. A former Pune Municipal Corporation corporator who has been elected to the Assembly for the fourth consecutive term,59-year old Bapat holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce. Bapat was also the director of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation and headed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) during the rule of the Shiv Sena-BJP dispensation. He unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Pune in 1996 against Suresh Kalmadi of the Congress.

Ramesh Singh Thakur (Congress)

Like fellow Congressman Amin Patel,newly elected MLA from Kandivali East Ramesh Singh Thakur also took his oath in Hindi. Thakur (46) was a corporator from Kandivali before getting elected to the Assembly and is a builder.

Girish Mahajan (BJP)

Elected to the Assembly for the fourth term from Jamner in Jalgaon,Girish Mahajan opted to take his oath in Sanskrit. A fitness enthusiast,49-year-old Mahajan is active in sports bodies. Mahajan is a graduate in Commerce.

Baba Siddique (Congress)

The former minister of state for food and civil supplies preferred to be sworn in in English. Siddique (51),is a former corporator and has been elected to the state Assembly for a third consecutive term from Bandra. Siddique is considered close to Mumbai North-Central MP Priya Dutt.