AIMIM Spokesperson Syed Asim Waqar Joins Congress
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New Delhi, September 2: In a significant political development ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Syed Asim Waqar, national spokesperson of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), on Wednesday joined the Congress, dealing a political setback to Asaduddin Owaisi's party in Uttar Pradesh.
“I felt being in the AIMIM for so many years that we pay lip service by stating that the BJP must be removed but on the ground we don't fight the BJP, we fight the Congress, the SP, we are fighting every other person who wants to remove the BJP,” Waqar said. He argued that if the objective was genuinely to defeat the BJP, opposition parties should not be fighting among themselves.
“If we are fighting the enemies of the BJP then we are friends of the BJP,” he said, adding that he had therefore decided to join the Congress because, in his view, Congress and Rahul Gandhi were leading the fight against the BJP across the country.
Waqar said that those who “love the country” should have the common objective of defeating what he described as an “anti-national” BJP government and establishing a secular government working in the interests of the people.
His remarks are likely to attract particular attention in Uttar Pradesh, where AIMIM has been attempting to expand its electoral footprint and position itself as an alternative voice for Muslim voters.
Waqar's exit comes within days of another prominent AIMIM leader, Dr Abdul Mannan, joining the Samajwadi Party, giving Owaisi's organisation two setbacks in quick succession in Uttar Pradesh. Mannan had earlier contested the 2022 Assembly election on an AIMIM ticket and had also headed the Peace Party's Uttar Pradesh unit.
Waqar joined the Congress at the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road in New Delhi in the presence of AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Rajendra Pal Gautam, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai and AICC Minority Department chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi.
The former AIMIM spokesperson made his decision particularly significant by openly criticising the political strategy of Owaisi's party. He alleged that while AIMIM repeatedly speaks of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party, on the ground it often fights other opposition parties, thereby helping the BJP.
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Waqar said that those who “love the country” should have the common objective of defeating what he described as an “anti-national” BJP government and establishing a secular government working in the interests of the people.
His remarks are likely to attract particular attention in Uttar Pradesh, where AIMIM has been attempting to expand its electoral footprint and position itself as an alternative voice for Muslim voters.
Waqar has had a long political association with Uttar Pradesh politics. Before joining AIMIM, he was associated with the Samajwadi Party for nearly two decades. He subsequently spent around 10 years with AIMIM and emerged as one of its most recognisable national spokespersons, particularly in television debates and political discussions concerning Uttar Pradesh.
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