The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) will fight the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as allies, AIMIM spokesperson Shadab Chauhan said, according to The Tribune. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP, and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad, the Nagina MP, were due to announce the alliance at a joint press conference in Lucknow on Thursday, The Hindu and The Indian Express reported.
Both leaders arrived in Lucknow separately but did not reveal the terms beforehand. How many of the state's 403 seats each party will contest has not been announced. The Indian Express reported that Azad is likely to be named the front's chief ministerial candidate; neither party has confirmed this.
A third front
If formalised, the tie-up would be the first declared front in Uttar Pradesh that is neither with the BJP nor with the Congress, The Hindu noted. Both parties are small players in the state and are aiming at Scheduled Caste and Muslim voters.
Asad Rizvi, a Lucknow-based political analyst, told The Hindu that the alliance would face a "huge challenge" because Uttar Pradesh politics is increasingly a contest between the NDA and the INDIA bloc. Winning votes is one thing, he said, and turning them into seats is another.
Why it matters
Dalit and Muslim voters are a large part of the electorate in many constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, and are central to the Samajwadi Party's and the Congress's hopes in 2027. A third front competing for the same voters could change the contest in seats where margins are close, The Indian Express reported.
What next
The alliance's name, its agenda and its seat-sharing plan are expected to be set out at the joint announcement.