'Shah Bano' fame Obaidullah Azmi joins Cong ahead of UP polls

In the midst of a debate on triple talaq, Congress on Sunday re-inducted former Rajya Sabha member and Islamic scholar Obaidullah Khan Azmi into the party.

Azmi, who shot to fame by his fiery speeches against the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, displayed the same aggression by asserting that he would launch an “agitation” on the Modi government’s “dishonest” attempts to oppose the triple talaq practice in his community.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who welcomed Azmi in the Congress, had to mount a fire-fighting exercise by drawing the party line to the new recruit.

“Since the matter is before the Supreme Court, according to our policy, there will be no discussion on it,” said Azad, who is the AICC general secretary, in-charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh where elections are scheduled early next year.

Earlier, Azad described 67-year-old Azmi as an Islamic scholar who is fluent in Urdu and Arabic and known for his spiritual discourses.

A three-term Rajya Sabha member, Azmi was earlier associated with the Janata Dal and had later joined the Congress. He later had brief stints with the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. “Congress needed Azmi to strengthen the party,” Azad said adding that his appeal among the Muslims across the country would benefit the party. Azmi hails from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.