- Asaduddin Owaisi is open to an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh
- Owaisi urged Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav to start talks before it is too late
- BJP criticised the proposed alliance as a collaboration of vote-bank politics
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is open to an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, a key state where elections are viewed more as a semi-final before parliamentary polls.
Owaisi has sent out a message to Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav that now is the time for talks, before it's too late.
"The Majlis does not want the BJP to form the government again in Uttar Pradesh. I am ready to join hands. I am ready to form an alliance. Today is the time to talk. Don't cry later after the elections are over," he said at an event in Moradabad.
The BJP called it a "collaboration of vote bank politics."
Samajwadi Party is the largest opposition party in Uttar Pradesh, tasked with challenging the BJP juggernaut led by a firebrand two-time Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath.
Instead of ending up as rivals and eating into each other's votes, Owaisi offered to join hands with Yadav. "You say that Owaisi contesting would harm us. I'm ready to fight with you," he said.
He reiterated that the AIMIM's fight was never against any religion.
"Our fight is for our honour and justice. We don't want to sit on a mat. We want equality. If Akhilesh sits in front of that chair, then Owaisi will sit cross-legged in front of that chair and talk about rights and justice," asserted the AIMIM MP from Hyderabad.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala did not wait to take a jibe at this call for alliance.
"Akhilesh Yadav and Owaisi compete in appeasement. Today they are leaving aside the 'kaun banega bada bhaijaan' (who will be the bigger appeaser) competition and saying let's do 'bhaijaan' collaboration. Therefore, Owaisi is sending a friend request to Akhilesh ji," said Poonawala.
He also called Owaisi and Yadav the two sides of the same coin.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh are due in 2027.
