Eye on ‘secular’ votes, SP seeks to ally with Cong in Maharashtra

Azmi, an MLA from Bhiwandi East, said if the alliance materialises, SP will contest fewer seats, not 50 that it will if it had to go it alone.

SP’s move comes days after the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) announced to contest Maharashtra polls. The Hyderabad-based AIMIM is also eyeing the Muslim votes. Recently, AIMIM’s fire brand MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi held a meeting in Muslim-dominated Nagpara area of Mumbai.

“Obviously it may result in division of secular votes but we are trying to patch up an alliance with other parties so that Muslims remain united.

Congress is also concerned about division of secular votes,” Azmi claimed.

At SP’s headquarters in Lucknow, office bearers had no information about alliance with Congress but Azmi claimed that he “had talks with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and he authorised me to go ahead”.

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, meanwhile, confirmed that his outfit will contest the Maharashtra polls irrespective of SP’s apprehensions. “We are not the only ones who have the responsibility of preventing division of secular votes,” Owaisi said, adding that BJP and Shiv Sena are already leading in most of the Assembly seats.

“We didn’t contest the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra to avoid division of votes but Asim Bhai’s son Farhan Azmi contested. Now, suddenly everyone is worried,” Owaisi said.

SP had won four seats in the 2009 elections with Azmi being elected from Bhiwandi East and Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. The other two seats it won were Bhiwandi West and Nawapur. Later, SP however, lost Bhiwandi East in bypolls with Azmi’s son Farhan losing to Shiv Sena. SP had contested 31 seats getting 7.71 per cent votes.