LUCKNOW, June 19 -- Days after AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi stated that he was exploring the possibility of a "third front" in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, veteran OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya's meeting with Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad on Wednesday has fuelled speculation over the emergence of an alternative political platform to challenge both the ruling BJP-led NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.

Maurya, founder of the Apni Janata Party (AJP) and a former minister who has been associated with the BSP, BJP and SP, described the nearly one-hour meeting in Lucknow as "formal". However, political observers see it as the beginning of efforts to bring together smaller parties, with the possibility of All India M...