Abu Asim Azmi (born 8 August 1955) is a member of the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 memb ...

. He represents the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Constituency, Mumbai. He belongs to the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

. He is the President of the

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state branch of the

(SP). He currently represents Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar of

Mumbai Suburban District Mumbai Suburban district (Marathi: ''Mumbai Upanagar Jilhā'') is the second most populous district of Maharashtra in the Konkan Division. With its administrative headquarters in Bandra, the district consists of three subdivisions or tehsils (t ...

in the

Politics

Azmi entered politics and in 1995, under his leadership, the

(SP) won two seats in the Maharashtra state assembly. In 2004, entering his first election cycle, Azmi was defeated by

Yogesh Patil Yogesh Patil (born 26 June 1972) is an Indian politician from the Maharashtra state and belongs to the Shiv Sena. He has served from 2004 to 2009 as the Member of legislative assembly (MLA) of Bhiwandi constituency of the state Maharashtra. ...

of the

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

from Bhiwandi constituency. From 2002 to 2008, Azmi was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Azmi was defeated by

Gurudas Kamat Gurudas Kamat (5 October 1954 – 22 August 2018) was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress (INC). An advocate by profession, Kamat was a commerce graduate from R.A. Podar College, Mumbai and has a law degree from the Governm ...

(Congress). However, in 2009, Azmi was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly where he served for two terms. He successfully contested the seats of Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar and Bhiwandi (East), and under rules limiting successful candidates to one region, he chose Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar. Azmi is the only MLA from Maharashtra to have won from 2 seats simultaneously in one election. Azmi has secured three consecutive wins in his Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Constituency from 2009 to 2024.

Controversies

Comments on Shakti Mill Rape Case

In 2013, on the Shakti Mill Rape Case, Azmi told

Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions were ...

, "Any woman if, whether married or unmarried, goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged. Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty. Girls complain when someone touches them, and even when someone doesn't touch them. It becomes a problem then ... If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam." He also said, "See, I don't know what context he said it in. But, at times, the wrong people are awarded the death penalty. Boys do it in josh (Hindi: excitement), but what can I say in this? The death sentence should be given. I won't speak against Islam." Azmi's comments were widely criticized in India. His daughter-in-law and actress,

Ayesha Takia Ayesha Takia Azmi (née Takia; born 10 April 1986), is an Indian actress and former model who worked predominantly in Hindi films. Takia made her debut in 2004 with the action thriller ''Taarzan: The Wonder Car'' for which she won Filmfare Best F ...

, said she was deeply embarrassed and ashamed of comments made by her father-in-law.

Comments on Muslim Leadership

In a video, Azmi is seen saying: "A Muslim who wants to build own leadership should go to Pakistan, this is secular India where our leaders are going to be Hindus."

Members of Legislative Assembly

Key

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azmi, Abu Samajwadi Party politicians from Maharashtra Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Living people 1955 births 21st-century Indian Muslims People from Azamgarh district Maharashtra MLAs 2014–2019 People from Mumbai Suburban district