LUCKNOW: With his ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief OP Rajbhar holding hands with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been in the process of cobbling up some new alliances with smaller parties ahead of 2022 UP Assembly elections.
While being determined to contest on 100 seats in UP, Owaisi on Sunday said his party was in talks with “one or two parties” for an alliance for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, However, he remained tight lipped over the names and nature of the parties.
It may be recalled that Owaisi had joined the Rajbhar led Bhagidari Morcha, an umbrella outfit of around 10 smaller caste-based groups, looking to carve out their presence in the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh.
However, with Rajbhar clinching an alliance with SP, the Bhagidari Morcha slipped into disarray with many of the smaller political groups unwilling to go along with Rajbhar. Owaisi has been one of them.
However, while interacting with media persons in Lucknow on Sunday, the AIMIM chief exuded confidence that is party would emerge victorious on the seats it would contest in the next year's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
“Our party has decided to contest elections on 100 seats. We're in talks with one or two more parties and time will tell if we form an alliance or not. We're in a position to win the elections," Owaisi said.
Owaisi had earlier said his party was in talks with Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav, and suggested he was in talks with the president of Azad Samaj Party Chandra Shekhar Azad.
"We are in talks with Shivpal Yadav. I've also met Chandra Shekhar once. We are in talks with other parties too," he had said last month.
Owaisi also asserted that AIMIM's candidates for the assembly polls won't be from the Muslim community only, "but from across the communities".
The AIMIM, which fielded candidates on 38 seats in 2017 elections in UP, had drawn a blank while the Samajwadi Party bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 and the Congress could manage to win only seven seats.