"Nawab Malik of NCP (Ajit Pawar) is certain to be fielded against me in the upcoming assembly election," Samajwadi Party's three-time MLA from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar Abu Azmi (69) stated on Thursday. He was taking part in FPJ Dialogue programme at the FPJ Office at Nariman Point.

Azmi said Malik, a former minister and sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar, cannot win the poll from Mankhurd, but he can create trouble. He said the fielding of Malik against him was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's plan to reduce Muslim legislators in the state after "wiping out" Muslims in the legislative council. The NCP (Ajit Pawar) is an ally of the BJP in the ruling Maha Yuti coalition.

Azmi, who is also the Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra president, alleged that the decision to field Malik from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency is not to win the seat but to reduce his (Azmi’s) votes.

Azmi accused the BJP of trying to polarise voters on religious lines. He said BJP MLAs like Nitesh Rane were openly talking of entering mosques and attacking Muslims. "Till date no concrete action has been taken against him despite the brazen violation of law. His party leader and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is not serious about taking action against his party legislator," he alleged. He said Muslims felt insecure and like in the Lok Sabha elections, they will vote en masse for the victory of secular candidates who can defeat the BJP and its allies. He said people of Maharashtra are fed up with the BJP's politics and issues like inflation and unemployment. He said the Eknath Shinde government was splurging money on schemes like Ladli Behen with borrowed money. ``A Sri Lanka type economic situation will prevail in Maharashtra at this rate," he warned.

He said the SP had demanded 12 seats from the MVA and these include Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, Bhiwandi, Dhule, Byculla, Anushakti Nagar, Malegaon and Sambhaji Nagar. 

When asked why the SP has not been able to develop roots in Maharashtra, Azmi replied that it was the case with several other parties. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), TMC etc have not been able to spread their wings beyond Telangana and W. Bengal respectively.

Talking about the upcoming Maharashtra VIdhan Sabha polls, Azmi claimed that the Maha Vikas Aghadi will win over 180 seats.

According to Azmi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will visit Maharashtra later this month and campaign in Mumbai, Malegaon, Dhule and Bhiwandi.

“Even if we do not get enough seats as expected, we are ready to compromise only because we will not break ties with MVA. The party is not as important as the country and we cannot compromise on our secular values. Samajwadi Party will always stick to its ideology and will never join hands with BJP,” added Azmi. Asked why the SP has tied up with an allegedly communal party like the Shiv Sena (UBT) he replied that his party had to choose between the lesser of two evils.

The party’s state chief also accepted that the party lacks second-run leadership which can provide on-ground support to Azmi, the party’s face in Maharashtra. He alleged that the party workers are easily poached by NCP and Congress as the workers are not committed to an ideology.

Talking about his constituency Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, where he has served for three consistent terms, Azmi said that the locality has been wrongly labvelled as a drug den and gateway for drugs in Mumbai. He claimed that drug abuse is prevalent in many areas of Mumbai but Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar has been made infamous by his opposition.

“I have threatened the police to take action against drug abuse, took up the issues over fifty times in the assembly but the government is not interested in solving the issue. They want the minority youth to destroy its future with such vices. It is a reality that there is a culture of drug abuse in my constituency but the dimension presented is exaggerated,” added Azmi.

Talking about the rising opposition among citizens of his constituency through Govandi Democratic Forum, Azmi claimed that the people involved in the forum want to fight election against him. He alleged that as all parties have failed win the seat, the forum is trying to manipulate a local opposition to defeat him.

“Law is equal for everyone but still a politician openly threatened to kill Muslims inside their homes. We want to live with harmony and celebrate all the festivals with unity. If the Hindu community respects our places of worship by muting their processions near our mosques for two minutes, I guarantee that Muslims will come out of the mosques and greet their Hindu brothers for their festival,” Azmi added.