UP Assembly Polls 2027: Poster Alleging ASP-AIMIM Alliance As BJP's B-Team Appears In Raebareli

In Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, hoardings accusing the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) and the AIMIM of being the BJP’s B-team appeared a day after the two parties announced the formation of the Samajik Parivartan Morcha (SPM), an alliance to contest the 2027 UP Assembly elections.

ASP president Chandrashekhar Azad and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi announced the new political formation at a press conference in Lucknow. The alliance also declared Azad its chief ministerial candidate.

The hoardings further alleged that the BJP had destroyed the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and would soon do the same to the new alliance. The posters were allegedly commissioned by a local Samajwadi Party (SP) leader.

Azad’s Response

During the press conference announcing the alliance, Azad was asked about the allegation that his party was the BJP’s B-team. He turned the charge back on the SP.

"If contesting elections independently makes a party the BJP's B-team, why did the Samajwadi Party contest 70 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 54 in Uttarakhand and 20 in Jammu?" he reportedly asked.

Azad also questioned the Congress for contesting Assembly elections against its INDIA bloc allies, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In an interview with The Hindustan Times on the day he was named the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate, Azad advised the SP and the BSP to join the Morcha.

“Come and fight with us instead of making allegations. We will give them respectable seats in our alliance to contest the 2027 Assembly elections,” he told HT.

Samajik Parivartan Morcha

The Samajik Parivartan Morcha is emerging as a third front in what many had assumed would be a bipolar contest in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters after the alliance’s formation, Asaduddin Owaisi outlined its objectives.

“Our goal is to address the issues plaguing Uttar Pradesh, including the destruction of the education system, the uncertain future of the youth and the fact that unemployment has become their fate. There are also concerns regarding hospitals and schools, as well as the shortage of urea for farmers. The public is facing many such challenges. We believe that other political parties are incapable of stopping the BJP,” he said.

The new alliance has added another dimension to the state's traditional political contest and could signal the emergence of a third front reminiscent of the BSP under Mayawati during its heyday. However, it remains to be seen whether the Dalit and Muslim voter bases, the alliance’s primary target constituencies, will mobilise behind this new political formation. Much will likely depend on whether voters perceive the Morcha’s candidates as electorally viable.