Lucknow: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi formally launched his party’s campaign for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Bahraich on Sunday by announcing state chief Shaukat Ali as the party’s candidate from the Muslim-dominated Matera constituency.
Owaisi chose the Samajwadi Party (SP) stronghold of Matera in an effort to position the AIMIM as an independent political force in Uttar Pradesh and to send a message to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav that Muslim voters were no longer the SP’s captive vote bank.
The AIMIM chief told a public rally on Sunday that the party’s growing strength would “change the political game” from Matera to Bahraich and across the state.
Calling for political change in the state, the AIMIM chief alleged that a single political family had dominated local politics for nearly 25 years without adequately representing ordinary Muslims and weaker sections.
Owaisi urged voters to elect Shaukat Ali as MLA in 2027, saying it would strengthen the voice of Matera and Bahraich in the Assembly.
“Muslim ab dari nahi bichaega (Muslims will no longer spread the carpet),” he said at the rally, meaning that Muslims would no longer serve as just ground-level workers.
He added that young voters had become politically conscious and appealed to them to support the AIMIM.
The AIMIM chief also took aim at the SP, questioning the development work of its elected representatives in the region. He alleged that despite being elected on Samajwadi Party tickets, party leaders had failed to provide basic amenities and claimed that even a hospital was yet to be built in the area.
Taking a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav, Owaisi referred to defections from the Trinamool Congress and questioned the opposition’s silence on the issue.
“When 20 MPs left Mamata Banerjee’s party, why did they leave? Nobody talks about that,” he said.
Owaisi alleged that the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had failed politically since 2014 and accused him of running a misleading campaign against AIMIM during the Bihar Assembly elections.
When asked about the possibility of alliances with the SP or BSP, Owaisi told reporters that any future decision would depend on political circumstances but stressed that AIMIM would only consider arrangements that ensured “respect and equal partnership”.
Why Matera matters
By fielding Shaukat Ali from Matera, AIMIM has chosen to challenge the SP in one of its traditional bastions, adding a new dimension to the political contest in Bahraich ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to Uttar Pradesh-based analyst Shilp Shikha Singh, AIMIM’s decision to launch its campaign from Bahraich was a calculated political move.
“By beginning its campaign there, AIMIM is attempting to consolidate its core support base before expanding its outreach to other parts of the state,” Singh said.
Matera constituency has remained a Samajwadi Party stronghold since 2007. The constituency has an estimated 3.4 lakh voters, around 1.5-1.55 lakh of whom are Muslims, accounting for nearly 45 percent of the electorate. The sitting MLA, Mariya Shah, is from the SP, while her husband Yasar Shah has previously represented the seat twice.
AIMIM’s UP strategy
According to sources in AIMIM, Owaisi plans to field at least 150 candidates in the UP Assembly elections, with a particular focus on Muslim-dominated constituencies.
Party leaders believe the strategy could help AIMIM expand its footprint in the state, similar to its performance in Bihar, where it won five Assembly seats.
Muslims constitute nearly 20 percent of the state’s population, and political observers estimate that Muslim voters can significantly influence the outcome in more than 70 Assembly constituencies.
AIMIM leaders believe these seats offer the party its best opportunity to establish a stronger presence in Uttar Pradesh politics.
But Singh said AIMIM’s success in Bihar does not necessarily guarantee a similar performance in Uttar Pradesh.
“While Owaisi’s party performed well in Bihar and won five seats in the 2020 Assembly elections, its experience in Uttar Pradesh has been very different. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, AIMIM failed to open its account,” she said.
AIMIM contested 95 of the state’s total 403 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, largely concentrated in western Uttar Pradesh. The party failed to win any seat and secured around 0.4 percent of total votes. In 2024, Owaisi supported Pallavi Patel’s Apna Dal (K), and his party decided not to field candidates on its own symbol.
Owaisi last visited Uttar Pradesh in January 2025, when he attended a joint parliamentary committee meeting in Lucknow on the Waqf Amendment Bill and interacted with representatives of various Waqf boards and other stakeholders.
AIMIM state functionaries said that Owaisi will now visit Uttar Pradesh regularly as part of the party’s campaign preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections.
But Singh cautioned it won’t be easy for Owaisi.
According to her, Uttar Pradesh politics is largely bipolar, with electoral contests increasingly centred around the BJP and the Samajwadi Party-led opposition bloc.
“Even the Bahujan Samaj Party is struggling to retain its influence among minority voters, many of whom view the SP-Congress alliance as the only viable challenger to the BJP. In such a scenario, the road ahead is not easy for Owaisi,” she observed.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)