Chandra Shekhar Aazad, Asaduddin Owaisi announce alliance ahead of 2027 Uttar Pradesh polls

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) President Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Thursday announced an alliance for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Aazad was named the Samajik Parivartan Morcha’s chief ministerial candidate.

Elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held early next year.

The Nagina MP said that the alliance was not just a “third front” but a coalition for social change.

“As more people from the marginalised, deprived, oppressed, exploited, and downtrodden sections join, this front will become an even more formidable force,” he said at a joint press conference in Lucknow.

Owaisi said that the alliance will serve as a “strong alternative” to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from returning to power for a third term.

“Many promised to oust the BJP,” Aazad said. “We waited, through 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024. Yet, the BJP has not been removed, instead, it has only grown more powerful.”

The Nagina MP added that the alliance was open to joining hands with the Samajwadi Party, Congress and others to prevent the BJP from returning to power.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP-led alliance won 273 seats in the 403-member Assembly. The Samajwadi Party won 111 seats. Its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won eight and six seats.

The AIMIM contested 95 seats but failed to win any, while the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) contested 110 seats and also drew a blank.

The vote share of AIMIM was 0.49% while the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) polled 0.13% of the total votes.

Aazad had contested the election against Chief Minister Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban Assembly constituency. He finished fourth, polling over 7,600 votes.

He went on to become an MP after winning the Nagina Parliamentary seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Sara Varghese.