The newly formed 'Samajik Parivartan Morcha' of Chandrashekhar Azad and Asaduddin Owaisi has promised free education, quality healthcare, employment opportunities and an end to injustice and oppression ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. However, the alliance drew sharp criticism from the BJP, Samajwadi Party and Congress, which have questioned its political prospects.
Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram president and MP Chandrashekhar Azad said there was great enthusiasm among the public for the new front, as voters had already given other alliances multiple opportunities in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024.
"These other alliances have failed to stop the BJP. Consequently, the public's trust now lies with the alliance between the Azad Samaj Party and the AIMIM, the 'Samajik Parivartan Morcha'," Azad said.
Outlining the alliance's promises, Azad said it would provide free education from Classes 1 to XII, build schools with proper infrastructure and ensure access to textbooks, clean drinking water and other basic facilities.
The front also promised quality hospitals with adequate medical facilities, medicines and doctors, besides establishing industrial zones to attract investments, create local jobs and reduce migration.
Azad said the alliance would focus on employment opportunities for women through small-scale and cottage industries, their safety and empowerment, the economic advancement of the poor and addressing the backlog in recruitment. It would also protect rights relating to promotions and reservations.
"Our top priority will be to put an end to injustice, atrocities and oppression," Azad said.
Describing the alliance as a powerful voice for the vulnerable, marginalised and oppressed, Azad asserted that the front would ultimately become a "Front for Political Change".
He also extended an invitation to the Congress and other opposition parties to join the alliance to defeat the BJP more effectively and prevent the fragmentation of opposition votes.
"Seats have been kept reserved for the opposition parties I mentioned, should they decide to join us. If they choose not to join, we will contest the elections with full strength," he said.
However, the formation of the alliance drew sharp reactions from the BJP, SP and Congress.
BJP state president Pankaj Chaudhary said opposition parties treated Dalits, backward classes and deprived sections merely as vote banks, while the BJP provided them respect, security and opportunities.
"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the poor have benefited from government schemes without discrimination. People will once again choose the politics of development in 2027," Chaudhary told news agency PTI.
SP spokesperson Abbas Haider said there was nothing objectionable about political parties joining hands to contest elections, as they have every democratic right to do so. However, he questioned the two parties' electoral prospects.
Haider said leaders seeking to expand their political footprint in Uttar Pradesh should first demonstrate their organisational strength and public support in their home states.
"Their electoral performance in the 2022 assembly election is there for everyone to see," Haider told PTI.
Congress leader Asim Waqar, who recently switched from the AIMIM to the Congress, went a step further, alleging that the newly announced alliance was formed at the BJP's behest.
"Some leaders work from time to time to help the BJP," he said in a video statement.
Waqar also urged voters, particularly from the Muslim community, to prevent the ruling party from securing a third consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh.
