No question of alliance with BJP in UP elections: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

HYDERABAD: The political turf is heating up in Uttar Pradesh ahead of elections to the state assembly early next year, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday ruled out an alliance with BJP.
“There is no question of going with BJP. The two ends of a sea can never meet. Other political parties in UP have to think with whom they want to join hands to defeat the BJP,” Owaisi said to a query on AIMIM’s plans in UP. He also tweeted it.
AIMIM has already announced that it will contest 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and has tied up with Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and its Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.

However, a recent meeting between Rajbhar and BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh in UP had fuelled speculations that the possibility of Rajbhar joining hands with BJP again cannot be ruled out.
SBSP had contested the 2017 assembly polls in alliance with BJP but parted ways before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The SBSP leader who leads the morcha has reportedly said his outfit could again ally with BJP if the saffron party picks up a backward caste leader as its chief ministerial candidate for 2022-UP assembly polls.
Now, Owaisi’s statement makes it clear that AIMIM will not be part of any front that has an alliance with BJP. Rajbhar has reportedly spoken to Owaisi over the phone after meeting the BJP state president, and explained to him the reason behind his meeting the saffron party chief.
Owaisi exuded confidence that people of UP will send a large number of AIMIM candidates to assembly. He threw a challenge at BJP to make “a debate on development” as an election issue and not anti-Muslim talk.