LUCKNOW: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has urged Muslims to end the “slavery of the Yadav clan in red cap”, stepping up his criticism of the Samajwadi Party (SP) after it failed to respond positively to his alliance offer for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, even nine days after the deadline expired.
Addressing a public meeting in Azamgarh, considered an SP stronghold, Owaisi said generations of Muslims had served Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, but the party leadership had failed to allow any Muslim to become a prominent leader. He alleged that the community had been exploited as a stepping stone to form governments without receiving an adequate share in political leadership.
He alleged that Azamgarh had received little in return for its long-standing support to the SP, despite late Mulayam Singh Yadav representing the constituency and serving as state chief minister. He said the district remained neglected and that its Muslims had developed a new political consciousness, determined to create leaders from within.
The AIMIM chief called on Muslims to develop independent political leadership and criticised parties that sought their support in the name of secularism but allegedly failed to provide them an adequate share in leadership.
“Now we do not need Gandhi or Nehru; we need our own leaders,” Owaisi said. He argued that Muslims should develop their own representatives instead of supporting established political figures in the hope that leaders comparable to Mahatma Gandhi or Jawaharlal Nehru would emerge from those parties.
During the rally, Owaisi accused the SP and Congress of seeking Muslim votes during elections while failing to share political power adequately. He also questioned the BSP’S approach and criticised alleged injustices against Muslims under the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Owaisi said his opposition extended beyond the ruling BJP to opposition parties presenting themselves as its principal alternative. His remarks come as political parties realign ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Sources said AIMIM was working to build an alternative alliance in Uttar Pradesh with smaller groups, including Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan’s Azad Samaj Party and Pallavi Patel’s Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), along with smaller outfits.
SP, BSP built fortunes on Muslim, caste support
Muslim voters have supported both the SP and BSP, particularly since the 1990s. Locals attribute the parties’ victories in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, especially since 1989, to combinations of Muslim votes with Yadav or Dalit support. However, Muslim voters have backed the SP strongly in the past three Assembly elections.