Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM, fresh from his success in the Bihar Assembly elections, has tied up with a former BJP ally for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls.

Owaisi and Om Prakash Rajbhar, the leader of the Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) who was a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government but is now a trenchant critic of the BJP, met in Lucknow on Wednesday and later announced the alliance.

“It was clearly a political meeting with the hope of making some difference in Uttar Pradesh in the next elections. We and many other smaller parties are going to contest against the BJP together,” Rajbhar told reporters.

The SBSP has four MLAs in the 403-member House.

“We are excited after our successful entry in the Bihar elections and are trying to spread our base in Uttar Pradesh too. An alliance of smaller parties would leave a positive impact on the people-centric politics of the heartland,” said Owaisi, whose party won five seats in Bihar.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) does not have any MLAs in Uttar Pradesh. Later, Owaisi also met Shivpal Yadav, who has formed the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) after being thrown out of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Shivpal is the only MLA of his party.

Rajbhar, an OBC leader, wields influence in over 25 Assembly seats in east Uttar Pradesh. Shivpal doesn’t have any substantial hold outside Jaswantnagar, which he represents in the Assembly.

Owaisi can hope to eat into the Samajwadi Party’s Muslim vote base in over 50 seats of west Uttar Pradesh.