The politics of violence

Queen Elizabeth, Seema Khanam, Fareeda and Gowramma have two things in common ufffd they are the spouses of rowdy sheeters, and they're all councillors

The politics of violence

Queen Elizabeth, Seema Khanam, Fareeda and Gowramma have two things in commonu00a0-- they are the spouses of rowdy sheeters, and they're all councillors

They are the wives of hardened criminals, and they are in a ward near you. Yesterday's daylight murder of Mohammad Ali is a grim reminder of how easy it is for people with violent backgrounds to get into politics. MiD DAY takes a quick look at his political career, and others like him, who field their wives into politics.

Biwi Ho toh aisi: When Istiaq Ahmad, a rowdy sheeter from Shivajinagar,
could not get a ticket from a political party to contest, he fielded his wife
Fareeda Khanam as an independent candidate. She now represents the
ward in the council. File pic

Ali, a JD(S) councilor from Banashankari Temple ward, who was brutally killed yesterday, was called 'Diwane' Ali because of his wild ways when it comes to the rowdyism. But he had made his way to politics slyly, as it was a means for him to take shelter against the police and his rivals in the underworld.

Swift rise
The rowdy sheeter, who had at least 15 criminal cases against him, never had a primary membership of the JD(S) though he managed to enter the BBMP council as an elected member with a party ticket. He was actually handcuffed when he came to file his nomination for the elections last year, as he was still an undertrial.

u00a0"The party was not interested in fielding him as a candidate actually," said a senior JD(S) leader. "He got the ticket thanks to his close proximity with MLA Zamir Ahmad Khan who is a close confidant of the party state president H D Kumaraswamy."

In fact, there was stiff competition between him and Mahim alias Azgar, another rowdysheeter, whose hand is suspected in Ali's murder for the JD (S) candidature, as both happened to be close to Khan. After Ali got the ticket, Mahim contested from Sudhama Nagar ward as an independent candidate, but lost.

Defending Ali's candidature, Kumaraswamy said, "No case was proven against him, and his representation in the council is justified. His murder has nothing to do with the underworldu00a0-- I believe it was political."

He said that the political parties including the JD(S) were cautious enough to keep the candidates with a criminal background out of the fray in the last BBMP elections, thanks to which there was no rowdysheeter was in the council.

His statement is technically true though, as Ali was the only rowdysheeter in the council while the others fielded their wives into the fray, who are now councillors. Seema Khanam is a Congress councillor representing Jagajivanaram Nagar, and her husband Altaf Khan is a notorious rowdy element with several charges including murder, kidnap, and extortion against him.u00a0 He came to light because of his infamous gang war with rowdy Arif Pasha, a former councillor. Seema faced Pasha's wife in the polls, the latter, a JD(S) candidate.

MiD DAY had interviewed Khanam, when she was campaigning for the polls, and she had said she didn't know where the BBMP council was, and she was depending on her husband's guidance to function as a councillor.