Owaisi announces alliance for Bengal elections: AIMIM to contest elections with Humayun Kabir’s AJU party. india news
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi announced on Sunday that the party will contest the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections in alliance with Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP).Announcing the alliance, Owaisi said, “AIMIM has decided to form an alliance with the Janata Unnayan Party for the West Bengal elections. We want to strengthen AIMIM and ensure that our candidates are successful in every corner of the country, and raise the voice of the poor and the oppressed in the Assembly… In West Bengal, 5 lakh backward class certificates have been cancelled, most of which belong to Muslims. There are also many stories of harassment. They They secure votes in the name of secularism but when the Majlis advocates equity and representation, they do not like it…”He also said, “I will hold a press conference in Kolkata with Humayun Kabir on March 25.”
Kabir, a former All India Trinamool Congress leader and AJUP founder, had earlier said that his party would contest 182 seats in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections. “I had already announced 15 candidates. Now, Humayun Kabir will contest from Rani Nagar; he is also doing an additional job. Then, another businessman named Humayun Kabir will contest from Bhagwangola. Also, Manisha Pathak Pandey will contest from 64-Murshidabad seat. So, with the 15 announced earlier and now these three candidates, we have opened a list of 18 candidates today,” he said.He said, “My party, along with the alliance we are in, will contest elections on 182 seats. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will be a partner and will contest on about 8 of those seats.According to the Election Commission of India, the West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, 2026, with counting taking place on May 4. The first phase will cover 152 constituencies, while the second phase will cover 142 seats.West Bengal has a total of 294 assembly seats and over 6.45 crore voters, including over 5.23 lakh first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.The main contest is expected to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.In the 2021 assembly elections, Trinamool Congress retained power with a decisive victory, while Congress and the Left Front failed to win any seats.