# Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi
**Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi** (14 February 1936 – 29 September 2008), popularly known as **Salar-e-Millat** (commander of the community), was an Indian politician from [Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyderabad) who led the [All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen](https://www.edgepedia.org/all-india-majlis-e-ittehadul-muslimeen) (AIMIM) for over three decades and represented the Hyderabad constituency in the [Lok Sabha](https://www.edgepedia.org/lok-sabha) for five consecutive terms from 1984 to 1998.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/) • [3](https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Analysis_of_Sitting_MPs_and_MLAs_who_have_dynastic_background_Finalver_English_Updated.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 14 February 1936, Hyderabad; 29 September 2008[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [3](https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Analysis_of_Sitting_MPs_and_MLAs_who_have_dynastic_background_Finalver_English_Updated.pdf) |
| Party leadership | President of AIMIM from 1975 (other accounts say 1976, after his father's death) until 2008[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [4](https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/sultan-salahuddin-owaisi.html) |
| State career | Opposition Leader in the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (1960-69); Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly 1962-84; Assembly Speaker in 1984[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) |
| Parliamentary career | Elected to the 8th Lok Sabha in 1984 and re-elected in 1989, 1991, 1996, and 1998; stepped down in 2004 in favor of his son Asaduddin[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/) |
| 1991 result | Won Hyderabad with 454,823 votes against BJP's Baddam Bal Reddy (415,299), a margin of 39,524 votes, 4.01% of valid votes[5](https://www.ceo.kerala.gov.in/ceokerala/pdf/LOKSABHA-HISTORY/1991-LS.pdf) |
| Institutions founded | An engineering college, a medical college, a degree college, MBA, MCA, and nursing colleges, a cooperative bank, an industrial training institute, and two hospitals[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) |
| Family | Married Najamunnissa on 1 January 1967; three sons and one daughter; sons Asaduddin and Akbaruddin both entered politics[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) |
## Early life and family
Owaisi was born in Hyderabad on 14 February 1936, the son of Abdul Wahid Owaisi, a lawyer who reconstituted the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in September 1961 with a broader political outlook.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [6](https://igmlnet.uohyd.ac.in/docs/hi-res/hcu_images/TH12374.pdf) The elder Owaisi had earlier been a member of the Razakars, a Muslim paramilitary organization that defended the [Nizam of Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/nizam-of-hyderabad), according to a Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance research network profile.[4](https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/sultan-salahuddin-owaisi.html)
Owaisi was educated at [Aligarh Muslim University](https://www.edgepedia.org/aligarh-muslim-university) in [Uttar Pradesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/uttar-pradesh) as an undergraduate, and he listed his profession as political and social worker.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) He married Smt. Najamunnissa on 1 January 1967; the couple had three sons and one daughter.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) His elder son [Asaduddin Owaisi](https://www.edgepedia.org/asaduddin-owaisi), born 1969, succeeded him both as Hyderabad's Member of Parliament and as AIMIM president; his younger son Akbaruddin Owaisi leads the party in the Telangana Legislative Assembly.[7](https://sansad.in/ls/members/biographyM/4091?from=members) • [2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/)
## Rise in Hyderabad municipal and state politics
**Municipal politics.** AIMIM contested the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad polls in 1960 and won 24 divisions, emerging as the main opposition party; Owaisi was elected from the Mallepally division and served as Opposition Leader in the corporation from 1960 to 1969.[8](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/) • [1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php)
**State assembly.** In 1962 Owaisi won his first Assembly seat from Pathergatti, defeating the Congress cabinet minister Mrs Masooma Begum; the Indian Express records that he contested as an Independent.[8](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/) • [9](https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/telangana-polls-aimim-hyderabad-asaduddin-owais-9041785/) In 1967 he won from the newly created [Charminar](https://www.edgepedia.org/charminar) constituency, defeating the Congress candidate Mir Ahmed Ali Khan, a sitting MLA and home minister who had shifted constituencies to challenge him.[8](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/) He remained a member of the [Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/andhra-pradesh-legislative-assembly) from 1962 to 1984 and led the MIM legislature party.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) In 1984 he was appointed Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/)
## Leadership of AIMIM
Owaisi assumed the AIMIM presidency in 1975 according to his Lok Sabha biographical sketch and the party's own history; the [Sciences Po](https://www.edgepedia.org/sciences-po) profile and a [Hudson Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/hudson-institute) brief state that he took over after his father's death in 1976.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) • [8](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/) • [4](https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/sultan-salahuddin-owaisi.html) • [10](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/CurrentTrends22.pdf) A doctoral thesis submitted to [Osmania University](https://www.edgepedia.org/osmania-university) in 1975 also records him taking charge of the party in 1975.[6](https://igmlnet.uohyd.ac.in/docs/hi-res/hcu_images/TH12374.pdf) He held the post until his death in 2008.[3](https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Analysis_of_Sitting_MPs_and_MLAs_who_have_dynastic_background_Finalver_English_Updated.pdf)
Under his leadership AIMIM made its parliamentary debut when he won the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat in 1984, and the party has retained that seat since.[8](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/) His 1991 victory over the BJP's Baddam Bal Reddy came by 39,524 votes in a contest with 26 candidates, on a turnout of 77.12% of the constituency's 1,296,145 electors.[5](https://www.ceo.kerala.gov.in/ceokerala/pdf/LOKSABHA-HISTORY/1991-LS.pdf) In Parliament he served on the Consultative Committee of the [Ministry](https://www.edgepedia.org/ministry-government-department) of Home Affairs, the Committee on Industry and Finance, and, in 1998-99, the Committee on Defence and its Consultative Committee.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php)
The party's electoral base rested on consolidating the Muslim vote in Hyderabad's Old City, where AIMIM has held the Charminar Assembly seat and neighboring constituencies since 1967.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/telangana-polls-aimim-hyderabad-asaduddin-owais-9041785/) AIMIM's own history credits him with a political style that made him, in the party's words, the strongest figure in Hyderabad politics, whose influence extended to the borders of [Andhra Pradesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/andhra-pradesh).[2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/)
## Institutions and community work
His Lok Sabha biographical sketch lists the founding of an engineering college, a medical college, a degree college, colleges for MBA, MCA, and nursing, a cooperative bank, an industrial training institute, and two hospitals, alongside work for the promotion and protection of Urdu language, literature, and culture.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php) The Deccan Education Society-linked Deccan School of Planning and [Architecture](https://www.edgepedia.org/architecture) records that its parent body was established in 1974 under his founder chairmanship.[11](https://www.deccanschoolofplanningandarchitecture.com/management.html) He also served as chairman of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee.[1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php)
## Succession and death
Owaisi stepped down from the Hyderabad parliamentary seat in 2004 in favor of his elder son Asaduddin, who has held it since.[2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/) He died on 29 September 2008, and Asaduddin was elected AIMIM president after his death.[3](https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Analysis_of_Sitting_MPs_and_MLAs_who_have_dynastic_background_Finalver_English_Updated.pdf) • [2](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/) One academic source gives his dates as 1931-2008, which conflicts with the 14 February 1936 birth date in his official Lok Sabha biographical sketch; the official record is used here.[6](https://igmlnet.uohyd.ac.in/docs/hi-res/hcu_images/TH12374.pdf) • [1](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php)
## References
1. [Biographical Sketch of Member of XII Lok Sabha, Shri Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, IndiaPress](https://indiapress.org/election/archives/lok12/biodata/12ap30.php)
2. [Our Leaders, AIMIM](https://www.aimim.org/our-leaders/)
3. [Analysis of Sitting MPs and MLAs with Dynastic Backgrounds, ADR](https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Analysis_of_Sitting_MPs_and_MLAs_who_have_dynastic_background_Finalver_English_Updated.pdf)
4. [Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance Research Network](https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/sultan-salahuddin-owaisi.html)
5. [Election Commission of India, General Elections 1991, 10th Lok Sabha, Statistical Report Vol. II](https://www.ceo.kerala.gov.in/ceokerala/pdf/LOKSABHA-HISTORY/1991-LS.pdf)
6. [Doctoral thesis, University of Hyderabad (MIM in Hyderabad)](https://igmlnet.uohyd.ac.in/docs/hi-res/hcu_images/TH12374.pdf)
7. [Member Detail, Asaduddin Owaisi, Digital Sansad](https://sansad.in/ls/members/biographyM/4091?from=members)
8. [Our History, AIMIM](https://www.aimim.org/our-history/)
9. [Telangana polls: In AIMIM's Old Hyderabad fortress, Owaisis sit pretty despite hiccups, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/telangana-polls-aimim-hyderabad-asaduddin-owais-9041785/)
10. [Current Trends in Islamist Ideology Vol. 22, Hudson Institute](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/CurrentTrends22.pdf)
11. [Management, Deccan School of Planning and Architecture](https://www.deccanschoolofplanningandarchitecture.com/management.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Politicians and government officeholders (biographies) › South Indian politicians › Andhra Pradesh and Telangana politicians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license