Mayawti to join hands with Owaisi for UP polls 2022!

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former UP Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldeo Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are likely to come together under the umbrella of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha to contest 2022 UP Assembly polls, sources said here on Wednesday.

BSP chief Mayawati and AIMIM head Assauddin Owaisi have held several rounds of talks and the latter is coming to Lucknow next month to formalise the alliance, sources said.

Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha will also try to attract few smaller parties with some significant base.

Mr Rajbhar of the SBSP had said that he is trying to rope in several other parties including AITMC and Aam Admi Party to form an effective front against the BJP.

In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, the SBSP in alliance with the BJP, had contested eight seats and won four. Mr Rajbhar was made the UP Cabinet Minister but dropped from by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in May 2019, soon after the Lok Sabha elections.

The SBSP, for strengthening its ground in eastern UP had already stitched an alliance with the AIMIM in January this year. AIMIM president Mr Owaisi has conducted a tour to Azamgarh and Jaunpur of Purvanchal with Mr Rajbhar.

Mr Owaisi has also joined hands with eight other parties including Krishna Patel's Apna Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Chandrasekhar Ravan's Azad Samaj party to represent the Muslims, backward and Dalits.

The Apna Dal, as per the sources, is likely to quit the alliance as it is reported to have cut a deal with the BJP. Its president Krishna Patel is likely to be nominated as a member of the UP Legislative council.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) led by Anupriya Patel, a Lok Sabha MP and daughter of Krishna Patel, is already an ally of the BJP.

The AIMIM was successful in the Bihar election in October last year and trying to work a caste-religion formula in eastern UP.

As per the sources, Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha in Azamgarh and adjoining district of eastern UP can also affect the Samajwadi Party as backward and the Muslim population is primarily the vote bank of the SP.

The BSP has a vote bank of 20 per cent and with the new alliance, the the percentage can significantly increase, an SP MLA said on the condition of anonymity.

"The alliance will lead to the division of the anti-BJP, votes, denting the SP prospects", the MLA said.(UNI)