Asaduddin Owaisi is an Indian politician, who is the President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). He is a three-time Member of Parliament (MP), representing the Hyderabad constituency in Lok Sabha.
Owaisi made his political debut in 1994 in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. Contesting from the Charminar constituency which his party has been winning since 1967, he defeated his nearest rival, a breakaway party Majlis Bachao Tehreek’s candidate, by a margin of 40 thousand votes. He succeeded Virasat Rasool Khan as the elected representative from the constituency.
In the 1999 election, he defeated his nearest rival Telugu Desam Party candidate Syed Shah Noorul Haq Quadri by 93 thousand votes. Owaisi polled 126 thousand votes in the election. In the 2004 election, he was succeeded by Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri as the member of the Assembly from the constituency.
In April 2014, Owaisi filed his nomination for the Hyderabad constituency in the 2014 general election. He declared movable assets worth 2.7 million rupees (around $ 42,000) and immovable assets worth 30 million rupees (around $ 463,000). He was elected from the constituency once again by defeating his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bhagvanth Rao by a margin of 197 thousand votes.
Personal Information
Name: Asaduddin Owaisi
Age: 49
Date of Birth: 13 May 1969
Sex: Male
Address and Contact: 3-6-149, Hyderguda, Hyderabad – 500 029, Telangana, Tel: (040) 2322278, 09848013569 (M)
Constituency: Hyderabad
Party: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
Start of Term: 18-May-14
Website: http://www.asadowaisi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Asaduddinowaisi/
Twitter: @asadowaisi
Education: Professional Graduate
Assets and Liabilities
| Years | Movable Assets | Immovable Assets | Total Assets | Liabilities |
| 2019 | Rs 1,67,49,518 | Rs 12,32,50,000 | Rs 13,99,99,518 | Rs 9,30,00,000 |
| 2014 | Rs 27,84,499 | Rs 3,10,61,200 | Rs 3,38,45,699 | Rs 1,40,00,000 |
Source: myneta.info | ECI
Pending criminal cases
There are 5 cases against him, with charges framed in 1; no convictions
Positions held
1994 – 2008
- Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly (two terms)
- Elected to 14th Lok Sabha
- Member, Committee on Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
- Member, Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment
- Member, Standing Committee on Defence
2009 – 2014
- Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
- Leader, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
- Member, Standing Committee on Defence
- Member, Committee on Ethics
- Re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
2014 onwards
- Member, Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs
Source: Lok Sabha
Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, Hyderabad Constituency. Credits: Facebook/ Asaduddin
MP Performance
Asaduddin Owaisi has always been one of the most active Parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha. He has had an impressive record in terms of attendance and participation in debates and won the Sansad Ratna Award in 2014 for his performance in the previous (15th) Lok Sabha.
In the 16th Lok sabha too, the number of questions he has asked is at least double that of the state average. Asaduddin has been vocal about women’s rights, as he has debated on the Muslim Women Protection Bill. He has introduced two private member’s bills — The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Amendment of article 84) and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Insertion of new article 371K). Both of them are still pending.
| MP | Attendance | Number of Debates | Number of Questions | Private Member’s Bill |
| Asaduddin Owaisi | 82% | 64 | 737 | 2 |
| National Average | 80% | 67.1 | 293 | 2.3 |
| State (Hyderabad) Average | 68% | 39.2 | 302 | 2.4 |
Source: PRS Legislative Research
Here are some of the key issues that he took up at the business of the House through the debates he participated in:
- The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, as Reported by Joint Committee
- The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017
- The Constitution Amendment Bill (insertion of new article 371K)
- The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015
- Provision of flood relief to people of Seemanchal
- Discussion regarding atrocities against Dalits in the country
For the complete list of debates participated by the MP, click here.
MPLAD Funds Expenditure
Owaisi has utilised the MPLAD funds on projects related to civic amenities, education, road, health, sanitation and water. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Asaduddin Owaisi has completed a total of 225 projects during his five-year-tenure. He has recommended various projects worth Rs 24.87 crore, related to setting up RO plants, CCTV cameras and digging bore wells, to combat water scarcity in the metropolis.
| Recommended Amount | Rs 24,87,43,450 |
| Sanctioned Amount | Rs 16,72,04,873 |
| Utilisation Amount | Rs 7,09,28,002 |
Some of the projects completed by him are:
- Construction of a laboratory and toilets at BJR government Junior College
- Setting up an RO Plant at Chandarghat
- Laying roads at Karwan assembly constituency
- Construction of sewer lines
- CCTV cameras in various parts of the Parliamentary constituency
Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
MP in the news
In July 2016, Owaisi spoke out against the ‘dangerous problem’ of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) among Muslims and urged the youth of the community not to get seduced by its propaganda. In a speech delivered after the 2016 Saudi Arabia bombings, he emphasized the need to “monitor what is being said from some mosques, what and who is injecting radical venom in the hearts and minds of our (Muslim) youth.”
In January 2017, Owaisi argued for the abolition of the Haj subsidy given to the Indian Muslims for traveling to Mecca on religious pilgrimage and utilizing the money for the education of Muslim women instead.
In the UP polls in March 2017, Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) made an electoral debut in the state by contesting 39 seats but could not win a single. In the aftermath of the BJP landslide in the state, Owaisi was reported to have said that secular parties had failed the Muslims and that the Muslim vote bank is a myth.
Owaisi was among the first leaders to vocally support the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s proposition of a third front as an alternative to the BJP and Congress in the 2019 elections, and called upon the latter to initiate talks.
In 2018, the AIMIM leader strongly criticised the ordinance passed by the Union Cabinet making triple talaq a criminal offence and termed it ‘anti-women’, saying it would mean more injustice for women, placing the burden of proof on her. He also questioned the logic behind the government curbing triple talaq while supporting the “decriminalisation” of homosexuality.
In March 2019, as tension escalated between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, the Hyderabad MP slammed the Pakistani President Imran Khan over his veiled threat, referring to the latter’s mention of his country’s possession of nuclear power.
[Laasya Shekhar, Senior Reporter at Citizen Matters Chennai, also contributed to the report.]