Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) chief Chandra Shekhar Azad has invited the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to join the newly formed Samajik Parivartan Morcha, an alliance between his party and Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Azad said the alliance was open to accommodating more political parties and urged the SP and BSP to join forces rather than criticise its formation. He said the priority was to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from securing a third consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh.
“Come and fight with us instead of making allegations. We will give them respectable seats in our alliance to contest the 2027 assembly election,” Azad said in an interview with Hindustan Times on the day he was named the alliance's chief ministerial candidate.
He said several parties were already in talks with the bloc and that seat-sharing arrangements with prospective partners would take their respective political strengths into account. Azad maintained that an understanding had already been reached with the AIMIM, although he did not disclose how many seats each party would contest.
The two parties have announced plans to contest all 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. They are also scheduled to hold a joint public meeting on November 26 at Lucknow's Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan, a venue associated with major BSP gatherings.
Azad challenges SP's claim to represent marginalised communities
Rejecting the allegation that the new alliance would divide opposition votes and benefit the BJP, Azad questioned the Samajwadi Party's claim to represent backward classes, Dalits and minorities through its PDA (backward classes, Dalits and minorities) outreach.
He argued that voters had tested the SP's pitch in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but alleged that the party had failed to adequately raise issues concerning marginalised communities after seeking their support.
Azad cited his victory from Nagina in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where he defeated the BJP candidate by 151,473 votes. He claimed that he had faced opposition from both the BJP and the SP-led alliance during the contest.
He questioned why parties that claimed to defend the Constitution and represent marginalised communities had been unwilling to support him.
Azad also accused opposition parties of failing to stop the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2017, 2022 and 2024 electoral contests. He said they had repeatedly claimed they could defeat the ruling party on their own instead of coming together around public issues.
“Stopping the BJP is the priority,” he said, adding that the SP should join the new alliance before the elections rather than question its formation.
Asked whether he would consider an understanding with the SP after the elections if the numbers required it, Azad said that would depend on the results. However, he reiterated that he wanted the party to join the front before the polls.
What the parties bring to the alliance
The Azad Samaj Party and the AIMIM contested the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections separately, but neither won a seat. The AIMIM contested 95 constituencies and secured 0.49% of the votes, while the Azad Samaj Party contested more than 100 seats and polled around 0.13%.
The SP, meanwhile, contested the 2022 elections in an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Mahan Dal and the Janvadi Socialist Party. The SP won 111 seats, while the alliance secured a total of 125 seats in the 403-member Assembly. The BJP returned to power with 255 seats.
The new alliance was announced by Azad and Owaisi at a joint press conference in Lucknow on November 12. Owaisi named Azad as the bloc's chief ministerial candidate and said the front would seek to prevent the BJP from returning to power for a third consecutive term.
The leaders have also invited the Congress to join the formation, saying that other opposition parties willing to work towards defeating the BJP would be welcome.
Unemployment, farmers' issues among alliance priorities
Azad said his selection as the chief ministerial candidate reflected the work undertaken by his party in Uttar Pradesh since 2017. He cited its interventions on issues involving students, farmers, wrestlers and protesters.
He said the alliance would focus on unemployment, farmers' demand for a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), sugarcane prices, the closure of schools and access to public services. According to him, these were the issues on which political parties should be mobilising people.
The November 26 gathering at Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan is expected to bring together workers from both parties. Azad said the meeting would demonstrate the alliance's organisational strength and its support on the ground. The venue has historically been associated with large political gatherings organised by the BSP.