Setback to SP-Congress Alliance as AIMIM Jumps into UP Fray

Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to contest five Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, giving a jolt to the Congress-Samajwadi Party coalition.

Lucknow: In a jolt to the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance, Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to contest five Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, party sources said. The five seats on which the AIMIM is going to contest are Nagina, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Sambhal, and Aonla.

AIMIM spokesperson Mohammad Farhan said that there is a discussion of contesting elections in five seats. "We have staked a claim on seats as part of the alliance, including Nagina, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Sambhal, and Aonla Lok Sabha seats. If five seats are not allocated by the SP, then we will field our candidates in 25 seats," he said.

Dalit leader Pawan Ambedkar will contest from the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency and AIMIM Uttar Pradesh President Shaukat Ali from Azamgarh. Candidates will be selected later for Moradabad, Sambhal, and Aonla seats, Farhan added. Meanwhile, as part of the alliance, the Samajwadi Party has given 17 seats to Congress and kept 63 seats with it.

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