Azeez Sait Explained

Birth Place:Mysuru
Death Place:Mysuru
Birth Date:15 March 1926
Office4:Member of Karnataka Legislative Council
Term4:1960-1966
Party:Indian National Congress (22nd April 1962 to 28 December 2001)
Office2:Member of 8th Lok Sabha
Termend2:27 November 1989
Termstart2:31 December 1984
Office:Minister of State for Transport, Tourism, Labour, Wakf Department and Industries & Commerce of Karnataka
Term Start:1972
Term End:1984
Relatives:Kubra Sait
(grand-daughter)
Danish Sait (grandson)
Tanveer Sait
(son)
Office3:Member of the Mysuru Legislative Assembly
Term Start3:1967
Term End3:1972

Azeez Sait (15 March 1926 – 28 December 2001) was an Indian politician who served as the Minister of State for Transport, Tourism, Labour Wakf Department and Industries and Commerce of Karnataka from 1972 to 1984. A prominent minority leader of the Congress Party, he represented the Narasimharaja constituency in the legislative assembly a record six times between 1967 and his death in 2001.[1] [2]

Career

Azeez Sait belonged to a family of clothiers whose patrons included the Mysore royal family. His father Abdul Sattar Sait had a department store in the Lakshmi complex, opposite the clock tower. Azeez Sait worked in this shop for 17 years before venturing into public life. In 1952, Azeez Sait managed the campaign of advocate Mohammad Shariff in Mandi Mohalla. He was also an active labour leader. He was the founder-president of the Mysore District Beedi Mazdoor Federation. He was the first Muslim to be elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) for Mysore, Mandya, Kodagu and Hassan.[3]

He was first elected to the State Assembly in 1967 after completing his tenure as an MLC. He was an active member and participated in a three-day dharna in the State Assembly. He was the Chairman of the Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation from 1973 to 1977. He contested Lok Sabha Election from Dharwad and won in 1984.[4] [5] Sait was considered a stormy petrel of Karnataka politics. He served as Minister for Labour, Transport, Tourism, Wakf, and Revenue. Besides being the first Muslim member of the State Legislative Council, he was also a legislator for an uninterrupted tenure of 18 years from 1967 to December 1984.

Sait was a Transport Minister in the Devaraj Urs Ministry. He was a seasoned politician, who was a right-hand man of the late Devraj Urs and minister in his Cabinet.[6] He was also a minister in the Bangarappa Cabinet. In 1982, he joined the Janata Party and became a minister in the first non-Congress Government in Karnataka. In the 1994 assembly election, Sait was defeated by Maruti Rao Pawar. In 1999, he avenged the defeat and returned to the State Assembly from the same Narasimharaja Constituency.

Azeez Sait was also the National Chairman of the AICC Minorities Wing.[7]

Positions held

Death

In 2001, at the age of 80, Azeez Sait died in a hospital in Mysore following a cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife, four sons, and two daughters.[10]

Notes and References

  1. News: Krishna wins shadow-boxing round . The Times of India. 9 March 2022.
  2. Web site: Karnataka Assembly Polls – 2018: These are hat-trick winning netas. Starofmysore.com. 18 April 2018.
  3. Web site: KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL : OATH REGISTER. PDF. 6. Kla.kar.bic.in. 9 March 2022.
  4. Web site: Bye_HP_AC14 . 19 January 2020 . 7 April 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050407111709/http://www.eci.gov.in/ByeElection/ByeMay2002/bye_2002MAY_ACnarasim.htm . dead .
  5. News: A Congress bastion for two decades, can party retain Narasimharaja seat? . The Times of India. 9 March 2022.
  6. Book: Arora. Ranjana. Indian Government and Politics at Crossroads: Political Instability, Money, Power and Corruption, Punjab and Kashmir Problems, Secularism, Religion and Politics, Development Towards 2000 AD. Grover. Verinder. 1995. 9788171005475.
  7. Book: Noorani. A. G.. The Muslims of India: A Documentary Record. 21 May 2004. 9780199087747.
  8. Web site: Members Bioprofile. 2021-10-14. Loksabhaph.nic.in.
  9. Web site: Azeez Sait. 2021-10-14. Kla.kar.nic.in.
  10. https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2001/12/29/stories/2001122903040300.htm