Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) arrived in Lucknow on Wednesday ahead of an expected announcement of an alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad's Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) for the 2027 assembly elections due by February. The two parties have finalised the deal after several rounds of meetings, sources told NDTV. They are likely to announce the alliance at a joint press conference in Lucknow on Thursday.