Five years after he was slapped by MNS legislators on the floor of the house for taking oath of office in Hindi (instead of Marathi), Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi, who has been re-elected to the assembly from Mankhurd- Shivajinagar, will again seek to be sworn in using the national language. After his assault, which led to the suspension of four MNS MLAs, Azmi had said he would attempt to learn Marathi, but admitted that this effort had fallen through.
"I will take oath in Hindi... my mother tongue is Hindi," Azmi told dna. Azmi added that he would be more comfortable being sworn in as a legislator in a language which he was more at ease with.
In 2009, Azmi had sought that he be sworn in using Hindi. This provoked a reaction from MNS chief Raj Thackeray who saw this as north Indian assertion. After the slapping incident, Azmi, who hails from Azamgad in Uttar Pradesh and migrated to Mumbai in 1973 to help his ailing father Haji Niyaz Ahmad Azmi in his business, had said he would learn Marathi. He, however, admitted that he had fallen short in this regard due to work pressures.
Azmi, who cut his teeth in Mumbai doing small jobs, gradually built up a business empire consisting of construction, travel, footwear and a manpower export firm supplying workers to the Middle East. The manhandling by the MNS MLAs had helped Azmi shed his image as a leader of minorities and reach out to a wider north Indian constituency.
In 2009, the SP had been able to win four seats with Azmi notching his maiden political opening in Maharashtra with wins from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar and Bhiwandi (East). Azmi, who dominates the SP's political discourse in Maharashtra, had earlier failed in his attempt to get into the legislature from Muslim-dominated Bhiwandi and in the Lok Sabha from Mumbai. He was a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh.
Five years ago, the MNS had been able to get 13 MLAs elected to the lower house. However, in a twist of irony, the SP and the MNS have just one MLA each now. Azmi, who earlier occupied the hardline Muslim political space, had his turf encroached upon by the mercurial AIMIM led by the Owaisi brothers from Hyderabad. The MNS too has almost been wiped out for now from the state's political map with Sharad Sonawane (Junnar-Pune) helping it save face.
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