Asaduddin Owaisi Sets Deadline For UP Alliance, Targets Samajwadi Party

Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has offered to join hands with Opposition parties to prevent the ruling BJP from returning to power in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. But in the same breath, he criticised the state's main opposition Samajwadi Party and its chief, reminding his audience that the Muzaffarnagar riots took place while they were in power. The Muslims of Uttar Pradesh, he said, needed a voice and only the AIMIM could fit that role.

Owaisi, who made his pitch at a rally in Kanpur - held as part of his election campaign - packaged the offer with a deadline. His party, he said, will wait till October 2 - presumably for a response from the Opposition parties - before announcing any potential political alliance. 

At a public rally at the Babupurwa Idgah ground in Kanpur's cantonment area, Owaisi said the AIMIM was ready to form an alliance with parties willing to prevent the BJP from forming a government again in Uttar Pradesh. "We also do not want BJP to form the government in Uttar Pradesh for the third time. If you want to stop the BJP from forming the government again, then come and join hands with AIMIM," Owaisi said.

The AIMIM had made a similar proposal in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls in the state. His party, Owaisi said, had offered to contest six seats under the alliance. It was not accepted, and instead, "false allegations" were made against AIMIM, he said.

Most Opposition parties have publicly accused Owaisi and his AIMIM of being the "B Team of the BJP". The antipathy is stronger in states where Muslim votes carry more weight - like Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. 

Leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have routinely accused Owaisi of promoting BJP interests by dividing the Muslim vote. The same accusation had echoed in Bihar after the assembly election, this time by Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal or the RJD.

Owaisi has always rebutted the allegations and accused the Opposition parties of fielding candidates unacceptable to the minorities. 

He also has regularly made jibes at the Opposition parties over their allegations, questioning why they have been unable to garner enough votes from the majority community to win. 

This time, he targeted the Samajwadi Party, saying, 
"How many riots took place (in Uttar Pradesh) when your Akhilesh Bhaiya came to power?" Then, referring to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, he said around 50,000 people were displaced from their homes and villages at the time.

Owaisi also accused various political parties, including the Samajwadi Party, of failing to address the social, economic, and educational problems of Muslims and denying them adequate political representation. He urged the voters to strengthen AIMIM's political presence in the state, saying Muslims need a "voice" in the assembly.