Abu Azmi says he won’t leave Samajwadi Party

Azmi, considered an outspoken Muslim leader, is a three-term MLA from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly segment

Mumbai: Samajwadi Party chief in Maharashtra Abu Asim Azmi on Tuesday clarified that he is not going to leave his party. Azmi said he is a determined follower of an ideology and not among those who are ready to sacrifice their principles to be in power.

Abu Azmi says won’t leave Samajwadi Party

He made the clarification a day after it came to light that the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has sent him feelers to join their organization and he had met senior NCP leader Praful Patel.

The 68-year-old leader said that he has been in the Samajwadi Party for the last 29 years and met senior NCP working president Praful Patel for work, not to discuss joining any party. “I do meet leaders from all parties… We fight for our own ideologies but are not enemies. I met Praful Patel in the broad daylight and with my security, not leaving the security or wearing a burqa. I wanted to speak to him about some work but that does not mean that I am joining a party,” said Azmi, a Rajya Sabha member between 2002 - 2008.

“I would have announced it on my own if I had planned to join NCP. It is like making assumptions,” Azmi said, denying the possibility of leaving the Samajwadi Party. “I am a person who follows ideology and principles. I don’t run after power but like to stand with the truth and the Constitution of the country,” he added.

Azmi, considered an outspoken Muslim leader, is a three-term MLA from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly segment that falls under Mumbai North East constituency. His induction into the NCP could help the BJP candidate Mihir Kotecha who is facing a tough fight in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai from Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Sanjay Dina Patil.

NCP’s offer came more than six months after several properties in Varanasi and bank deposits worth around ₹150 crore were attached by the Income Tax (IT) department as part of its probe against Azmi and his alleged associates in October last year.

The NCP offer is in line with the Ajit Pawar-led party’s plan to get minority leaders from the opposition parties who may not be willing to join the BJP. On Monday, NCP inducted Mushtaq Antulay, Congress leader and son-in-law of former chief minister Barrister AR Antulay. Before him, former Congress minister Baba Siddique joined the party. His son and MLA Zeeshan is expected to follow in the footsteps of his father ahead of the state assembly polls.