Owaisi's AIMIM denies reports of alliance with Samajwadi Party in UP

Lucknow: AIMIM has denied reports which said that the party is ready for an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Many media outlets on Saturday had reported that All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi has said his party is ready to join hands with SP if it makes a Muslim as Deputy Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh.

Reports also quoted Owaisi saying that he has no objection if the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha(BSM) -of which his party is a constituent- decides to enter into an alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) for the 2022 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

AIMIM is one of the 10 political parties which have joined hands under the banner of BSM, led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, the president of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

Earlier this month, AIMIM leader Asim Waqar had said that Deputy CM's post across the states should be reserved for Muslims and had asked Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) to clear their stand over this issue

But now, an ANI report quoting AIMIM Uttar Pradesh president Shaukat Ali said that AIMIM have never said that it will go for alliance with Samajwadi Party if Akhilesh Yadav makes a Muslim leader as deputy chief minister if the party comes into power in Uttar Pradesh.

The party's UP Chief also cleary denied the reports stating that neither he nor AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi made those statements.

According to Ali, what the party said was, despite coming into power after gaining 20 per cent of Muslim votes in the previous elections, SP they did not make any Muslim as deputy chief minister.

AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi had earlier announced that AIMIM will contest 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh polls scheduled early next year.

At present, there are 110 Assembly constituencies where Muslim voters make up around 30-39 per cent. On 44 seats, this percentage rises to 40-49 per cent while on 11 seats, the Muslim voters are around 50-65 per cent.

Mr Owaisi had earlier visited Lucknow and has been in talks with smaller political outfits. According to an IANs report, the AIMIM Chief is slated to visit Prayagraj, Kaushambhi and Fatehpur once the monsoon session of Parliament concludes.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, AIMIM fielded its candidates on 38 seats but could not manage to win even a single constituency. It decided not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, however, Owaisi campaigned against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In 2017, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.