Why Abu Azmi is so angry with Owaisi brothers?

Making a last-ditch effort to restore Samajwadi Party's traditional vote bank, which it lost to All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Maharashtra chief of Samajwadi Party Abu Asim Azmi has launched a no-holds-barred attack on AIMIM leaders — MP Asaduddin Owaisi and his younger brother MLA Akbaruddin, both from Hyderabad.

Azmi left for Hyderabad last week with an aim to attack the "lions" in their territory and "expose" the rivals. He has, however, come back to Mumbai stung after being booked by the Hyderabad police for giving a "provocative" speech.

"Owaisi brothers claim to be messiahs of Muslims. I will be exposing them in Hyderabad, where they are supporting the ruling government, and yet there was an encounter of five Muslim youths while they were being taken to jail," Azmi had told media persons before leaving for Hyderabad.

However, on Wednesday he said, "They slapped a case under section 153 (A) of the IPC on me for promoting enmity between two communities, even though I did nothing of that sort. I had just equated the encounter of the five Muslim undertrials in Telangana on April 7 with the killing of 20 people in police firing in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh that also took place on April 7."

"I was only pointing out the fact that a judicial inquiry was ordered in the Andhra case but not in the Telangana case, which involved the killing of five Muslim boys," he added.

He also claimed that AIMIM stands exposed in this case. "AIMIM is part of the Telangana government and yet it's mum and hasn't protested or demanded any judicial inquiry. Its false claims of being champions of Muslims have fallen flat."

While opponents termed Azmi's move as vote bank politics, he refuted the charges. "My Hyderabad visit has nothing to do with vote bank politics. I have been to Hyderabad even after Mecca Masjid blast. I just want to expose the hypocrisy of certain people who consistently attack the UP government but keep silent when such things happen elsewhere."

Asaduddin Owaisi sought to downplay Azmi's rhetoric. "In democracy, every political party and its representatives have freedom to propagate their party," he remarked.

Azmi's anger stems from AIMIM making inroads in Maharashtra by winning two assembly seats. It also fared well in Aurangabad civic polls with the support of Muslim and Dalit vote banks. AIMIM is also looking to fight elections in UP, where Samajwadi Party is in power.

Azmi has been completely sidelined in the state. He is the lone MLA of the party which had four MLAs in the last assembly. His vote bank in Mumbai has shrunk considerably, which may cost him dear in 2017 civic polls. At present, there are nine corporators of SP in the BMC.

"Since 1995, when he entered in state politics, Azmi flaunted his vote base to bargain with other parties. All this vanished in 2014 with AIMIM's entry," said a senior Congress leader.

The Owaisi brothers, known for fiery speeches and tongue-in-cheek comments, have left Azmi far behind. Their aggressiveness and style of politics have impressed young and old Muslims alike, said observers.