Asaduddin Owaisi Stitches Alliance With This Party Of Eastern Uttar Pradesh; Praises Shivpal Yadav

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi's Uttar Pradesh visit is set to expand his work on gaining electoral presence in the state. Owaisi has ambitions to open his tally in UP in the 2022 assembly polls and hurt the numbers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and "other bigwigs".

Owaisi's confidence has spurred after his party won five seats in the Bihar assembly polls this year.

The state has the largest Muslim population in India. A part of Owaisi's political ambitions, along with the wish to expand the reach of his party in Bihar and Bengal, is his aim for expansion in UP.

Owaisi took a swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Referring to BJP's performance in the Hyderabad municipal election campaign, he said, "The ward that Chief Minister Adityanath went to (to address an election rally), the BJP lost all three seats... Where Amit Shah went, the BJP lost the seat. I am not here to change names, I am here to win hearts."

His mention of “not here to change names” could be in reference to “Bhagya Nagar”, which gained popularity during BJP's campaign in the Hyderabad municipal polls.

A big highlight of Owaisi's visit to the state ruled by Adityanath is his meeting with Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. This visit and meeting is instrumental in creating an alliance for the 2022 UP assembly polls.

Owaisi has reportedly said that he and Rajbhar are together, and that he would want to be part of the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha under the leadership of Rajbhar.

The Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha has the Jan Adhikar Party led by Babu Singh Khushvaha, the Rashtriya Uday Party led by Babu Ram Pal, Janata Kranti Party led by Anil Singh Chauhan, and the Rashtriya Upekshit Samaj party led by Premchand Prajapati.

Owaisi is being labelled as a “vote-cutter” by his opponents.

Owaisi has also hinted on possibilities of a meeting with Shivpal Yadav, laying a possibility of a tie-up with Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) led by Yadav. “Shivpal ji is an important figure in UP politics..," he is reported to have said, adding that he would meet Yadav.

Shivpal, who parted ways with Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party to float his own party, has been consistently requesting opponents of the BJP to unite to defeat the saffron party in UP 2022.

The sealing of alliance between Owaisi and Rajbhar, the walking of the Peace Party leader to Owaisi for erecting a fight against the BJP, and hints from Owaisi to meet Shivpal Yadav, are signs that he is set to change AIMIM's presence in UP.