Owaisi Says AIMIM Open to Alliance to Keep BJP Out of Power in UP

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said his party is willing to explore an alliance with political groups that want to prevent the BJP from forming the government in Uttar Pradesh for a third consecutive term.

Addressing a gathering in Kanpur's Cantonment constituency, Owaisi called for greater AIMIM representation in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, saying the Muslim community needed a political “voice” of its own.

He said the party would wait until October 2 before deciding whether to enter into an alliance for the upcoming Assembly polls. Owaisi also referred to AIMIM's experience in the Bihar elections, claiming the party had proposed an alliance under which it would contest six seats but was subsequently subjected to what he termed “false allegations”.

The AIMIM president also trained his guns on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, questioning the record of the previous SP government in dealing with communal violence. Referring to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, Owaisi said around 50,000 people had been displaced and questioned the extent of Muslim representation in the state government at the time.

He alleged that successive governments in Uttar Pradesh had failed to adequately address issues concerning the education and socio-economic development of Muslims.

Owaisi also criticised efforts to persuade Muslim voters to back established political parties primarily to prevent the BJP from returning to power, saying such appeals amounted to invoking an “old fear” during elections.

He further criticised the BJP government over madrassa-related measures and highlighted the contribution of Muslim religious scholars to India's freedom movement.

Taking aim at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Owaisi also objected to his references to freedom fighter and former Congress president Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar. He highlighted the historical role of Kanpur's madrassas and Muslim ulemas in opposing British rule.