Owaisi & Rajbhar find new ally for UP polls? Meeting with Chandrasekhar Azad sparks buzz

In a new development ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi and his ally Om Prakash Rajbhar met Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad. This meeting took place at a hotel in Lucknow on Friday. Speculation is rife that the ''Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' wants Azad to join its fold. Advocating the rights of Dalits, other backward classes and minorities, the Azad Samaj Party is being projected as a viable alternative to Mayawati-led BSP. At present, this alliance is being led by Rajbhar and comprises 10 parties including the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, AIMIM, the Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel, Rashtroday Party, Rashtriya Bhagidari Party and Janta Kranti Party.

A Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet until 2019, Rajbhar has been a fierce critic of the state government and the Centre after parting ways with the saffron party. Recently, there has been friction between AIMIM and SBSP with the latter keeping the door open for an alliance with BJP. Disapproving this stance, UP AIMIM president Shaukat Ali stressed, "AIMIM is with Rajbhar to stop BJP. If Rajbhar decides that the (Bhagidari Sankalp) Morcha will go with BJP, AIMIM's stance is that it will always remain on the battlefield to stop BJP. We will stop BJP. We will never ally with BJP".

Om Prakash Rajbhar's focus on UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. In the run-up to the upcoming polls, Om Prakash Rajbhar has been brandishing his credentials as a serious contender. Speaking to Republic TV earlier, he asserted that the alliance would win more than 300 seats and pitched a formula whereby a new CM and 5 Deputy CMs will be appointed every year. 

The SBSP supremo attracted controversy recently when he exhorted women to beat up BJP leaders during the Uttar Pradesh election campaign. Addressing a huge crowd of women voters in Varanasi, he urged them to pressurize the saffron party to pass a bill guaranteeing 50% reservation for women in jobs as well as Assembly and Parliament. He also warned BJP leaders of a threat to their life if they continue to seek votes without fulfilling the women's quota demand.