Third front on the cards for UP polls as Owaisi, Chandrashekhar Azad to join hands

Asaduddin Owaisi and Chandrashekhar Azad are expected to announce a third front in Lucknow on Thursday. The proposed alliance seeks to unite Dalit and Muslim voters for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

In Short

• Joint press conference in Lucknow is expected to detail seat-sharing plans
• Western Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand are key regions for mobilisation
• BJP won 255 seats in 2022, while Samajwadi Party secured 111

Uttar Pradesh's political landscape could see the emergence of a new player ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president Chandrashekhar Azad joining hands to form a third front.

The two leaders are expected to announce the alliance at a joint press conference in Lucknow on Thursday, with the proposed outfit likely to contest around 150 seats.

According to reports, the new front is preparing to contest around 150 of Uttar Pradesh's 403 Assembly seats. The final seat-sharing arrangement and the constituencies each party will contest are expected to be clarified during the announcement.

The proposed alliance is expected to focus on building a political combination of Dalit and Muslim voters, particularly in constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh and the Rohilkhand region. Both communities together account for a sizeable share of the state's population, making their electoral support significant in several constituencies.

WHAT THE ALLIANCE MEANS FOR UP'S POLITICAL EQUATION

The proposed tie-up comes as political parties step up preparations for the Assembly elections, expected in early 2027. The main contest is currently taking shape between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led in the state by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the opposition alliance centred around the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP won 255 seats, while the Samajwadi Party secured 111. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, won just one seat, while the Congress managed two.

The BJP's alliance includes parties such as the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Jayant Chaudhary, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), headed by Om Prakash Rajbhar, the Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sone Lal). Meanwhile, the SP is looking to continue its partnership with the Congress.

The BSP remains another important player in the state's electoral calculations. Mayawati has indicated that her party will contest the 2027 elections on its own, seeking to rebuild its support base among Dalit voters.

WILL OWAISI-AZAD ALLIANCE IMPACT SP-CONGRESS?

The proposed alliance could introduce another electoral combination into a contest largely centred on the BJP-led NDA and the SP-Congress partnership. Owaisi has been critical of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, accusing his party of taking Muslim voters for granted. AIMIM had also explored an alliance with the BSP before the proposed understanding with Chandrashekhar Azad's party emerged.

The two parties are seeking to bring Dalit and Muslim voters onto a common political platform. However, the extent to which the alliance can translate this social combination into electoral support remains to be seen.

AIMIM had contested 95 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but failed to win any, securing around 0.49% of the votes. The Azad Samaj Party also failed to win a seat.

The alliance's electoral prospects will depend on its candidate selection, seat-sharing arrangement, campaign strategy and ability to build support beyond the existing voter bases of the two parties.

The joint press conference on Thursday is expected to provide the first details of how the new front plans to approach the 2027 contest.

- Ends