Latif was BJP’s hate symbol

It would not be wrong to say Abdul Latif laid the foundations of the BJP���s climb to power on its own strength in Gujarat. BJP candidates used to tell the voters in the late 90s ���When you go out to vote, don���t forget Latif ���. Latif became a symbolic target against Congress ��� an experiment which resurfaced with Miyan Musharraf in 2002 and Sohrabuddin Shaikh in 2007.
Latif was an ordinary bootlegger operating near Sarangpur Bridge in the early 80s. He shot to fame during the communal riots in 1985, acquiring a Robin Hood-like image among Muslims in the walled city. In 1987, Latif made history in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections winning as an independent candidate from five wards. And that too by contesting from jail! In 1996, Latif was arrested by then chief minister Keshubhai Patel.
He was hailed as a ���Hindu Hriday Samrat��� and felicitated by the BJP in many districts for this achievement. 1997, Latif was killed in a dubious police encounter, supposedly ordered by Shankersinh Vaghela, the power behind the throne of then chief minister Dilip Parikh. But Vaghela could not encash the slaying of Latif politically.