Lucknow: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday announced his alliance with former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and Waman Meshram for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The alliance has been named 'Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha'. During the press conference, Owaisi said that Babu Singh Kushwaha will be the CM face of the Parivartan Morcha in the UP assembly elections.
"If the alliance comes to power there will be 2 Chief Ministers, one from OBC community and another from Dalit community. There would be 3 Deputy Chief Ministers, including from Muslim community," Owaisi said in a press conference.
According to sources, Owaisi formed the new alliance in UP after talks of an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Congress failed to take off.
Owaisi's AIMIM along with Babu Singh Kushwaha's Jan Adhikar Party and Waman Meshram's Bahujan Mukti Party will contest all the seats in the state. It is also being said that later some more small parties can be included in the alliance.
The AIMIM chief said that 95 percent talks had been held regarding the distribution of seats in the alliance and the list would be announced soon.
Upon being questioned whether this an alliance formed out of compulsion, Babu Singh Kushwaha said that it is not of compulsion. "We worked for Dalit, backward and minority community for a long time," he said.
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Waman Meshram said that till now in Uttar Pradesh it was believed that the battle was between the Samajwadi Alliance and the BJP but after this alliance now the battle is between our alliance and the BJP. Regarding the inclusion of Rashtriya Ulema Council Peace Party and Ittehad-e-Millat Council in the alliance, he said that the door of alliance is open and any party can join.
At 6 percent, Mauryas, Kushwahas, and Shakyas are believed to be the third-largest OBC caste in Uttar Pradesh. Babu Singh Kushwaha, a former minister in the BSP government, is considered to have huge clout among these castes. The Maurya community is dominant in Lucknow and its surrounding Purvanchal region. At the same time, there is a majority of the Kushwaha community in Bundelkhand, while the Shakya community is very dominant in Etah, Badaun, Mainpuri, Etawah, and its surrounding districts.
Although Babu Singh Kushwaha was in touch with BJP and SP earlier, the matter could not move forward over the issue of seat-sharing. At the same time, BAMCEF and Bahujan Mukti Party have also been trying to make inroads among Dalits in UP for the last several years.
Elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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