6 Indian CEO Turned Politicians


Abu Asim Azmi
Abu Asim Azmi born 8 August 1955, is the state president of Maharashtra Samajwadi Party. He represented Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament from November 2002- Nov 2008. Abu Asim Azmi is the senior leader of Samajwadi Party, Maharashtra, Mumbai. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly. He generated controversy when he took his oath in Hindi instead of Marathi and was slapped by fellow legislators (mainly from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) while doing so. A successful businessman, Mr Azmi entered politics by accident. He was arrested for the 6 March 1993 bomb blasts, which killed more than 250 people. The Mumbai Police had alleged that he was complicit with the perpetrators of the bomb blast by helping them flee the country through his travel agency

Vijay Mallya
The 55-year-old Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya entered politics in 2000 as a member of the Janata Party.  He took the reins as Chairman of the UB Group in 1983 and since then, the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over 60 companies. The focal business areas of the group encompass Beverage Alcohol, Life Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture and Chemicals. Kingfisher Airlines is the first Indian company to purchase the much famed Airbus A-380. He also co-owns the Formula One team Force India, the Indian Premier League team Bangalore Royal Challengers, and the I-League team East Bengal FC. Vijay Mallya was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2002 and again in 2010 as an Independent MP representing his home state of Karnataka. During his first term in Parliament, he served on the Parliamentary committees on Civil Aviation, Defense and Industry.