The Samajwadi Party (SP) may field Farhan Azmi, the son of party state president Abu Asim Azmi, as its candidate for the Lok Sabha election from the South Mumbai constituency, according to a top party functionary.
Farhan, who married actress Ayesha Takia in 2009, had considered contesting against Milind Deora of the Congress in the last election. But the Samajwadi Party had second thoughts and decided against his candidature.
This time, according to sources, the party has conducted a detailed survey of the constituency to find out how Farhan might fare against Deora, who is a Union minister and has been elected twice from the constituency. Deora is said to be counted in Rahul Gandhi's inner circle.
An announcement on this is expected this week.
Asked about whether he would contest the Lok Sabha election from South Mumbai, Farhan, 34, said, "I will contest against Milind if my party says so."
Farhan owns seven hotels across Mumbai and plans to open one in Goa. He studied at Sydenham College, but did not complete his graduation.
Asked why the party was waiting to name its candidate when other parties had already declared theirs, he said, "We are waiting for the report of the survey by the party. A preliminary report has revealed that there is an anti-Congress wave and Deora will lose heavily because of his non-performance."
Farhan also claimed that the Samajwadi Party was receiving huge support not only from minorities but also from youth. "A final decision will be taken only after a detailed study of the report," he said.
About the other candidates in the fray from South Mumbai, Farhan described banker Meera Sanyal of the Aam Aadmi Party as a weak candidate and he said the Shiv Sena had deliberately fielded a "non-candidate" in Arvind Sawant at the behest of the Congress.
kanchan.srivastava@dnaindia.net
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