February 23, 1998

Akbar Ahmad
BSP

Azamgarh UTTAR PRADESH
Electorate: 12.1 lakh
Main Rival: R Yadav (SP)

Akbar "Dumpy" Ahmad runs a straightforward campaign. It's all pure, unadulterated machismo. For 18 hours this 50-year-old stands erect in his open gypsy, acknowledging his fans. In crime-infested Azamgarh, he is the tough guy who delivers. He is the protector of the Dalits in a Yadav-dominated constituency, shouting, "As long as I'm alive, no Yadav dare stop a Dalit from voting." But his real battle is to grab a chunk of the Samajwadi Party's Muslim vote. He thunders: "India has 18 crore Muslims and just five crore Yadavs. And Mulayam Singh Yadav dares to say that he will protect the Muslims?" Dramatic pause. "Musalman ki hifazat Allah karega. Koi mai ka lal Yadav nahin! (Allah will protect the Muslims, not some Yadav)."

Yet, in all this macho posturing, he never fails to mention his late friend and mentor: "I will do for Azamgarh what Sanjay Gandhi did for Amethi." Neither does he forget to keep Allah on his side, actually reading the namaz between meetings. The only ally missing is glamorous wife Naina Balsavar; the former miss India is safely ensconced in the Ahmads' farmhouse in Delhi. Says he: "This is a man's fight." It is a machismo that is infectious. As Hanif Mohammad, a starry-eyed youth, says fittingly, right out of Sholay: "Loha lohe ko kaatta hai, aur Dumpybhai sab ko mu tod jawab de sakte hai (Iron cuts iron and Dumpy can give a fitting reply to all)."

-- Saba Naqvi Bhaumik

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