Lucknow, Nov. 13 -- All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday named Azad Samaj Party (ASP) president and Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar Azad as the chief ministerial candidate of their newly formed alliance, the Samajik Parivartan Morcha (SPM), for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The two leaders announced the partnership at a joint press conference in Lucknow, saying the front would contest all 403 seats and position itself as a strong alternative capable of stopping the BJP from securing a third consecutive term in the state. "I am happy to announce that our brother Chandra Shekhar Azad will be the chief ministerial candidate," Owaisi said. He described the alliance as one based on "political and intellectual honesty" and expressed confidence that it would emerge as a robust force focused on social change, unemployment, education, farmers' issues and concerns of the marginalised communities that he alleged had long been treated merely as vote banks. Azad, for his part, rejected the "third front" label. "It is not a third front, it is the first and strongest front in the politics of UP as of now," he said. He claimed other parties had failed to deliver for the backward and deprived sections and invited the Samajwadi Party and Congress to join the Morcha to put up a stronger fight against the BJP. Both leaders said seat-sharing was not an issue and would be decided at the appropriate time. The alliance's three-point priority agenda, as outlined by Azad, centres on free quality education from Class 1 to 12, hospital improvement, and employment generation. Owaisi sharpened his attack on the Samajwadi Party, noting that it secured around 90% of the Muslim vote in previous elections yet failed to defeat the BJP. He claimed that announcing Azad as the CM face would cause sleepless nights in the SP camp and that the ground had shifted beneath the party. He also recited a couplet by Amir Minai in response to questions about Akhilesh Yadav's proposed Ayodhya visit, suggesting the SP's real face was gradually being revealed. On other issues, Azad expressed solidarity with Azam Khan, while Owaisi demanded the list of 1.27 crore voters allegedly deleted from electoral rolls (referring to statements by chief minister Yogi Adityanath) and reiterated his party's objections to aspects of the Special Intensive Revision process and Election Commission-related matters. Azad invited Owaisi to a mega rally in Lucknow on November 26. This development follows Owaisi's earlier unsuccessful efforts to secure space within the broader opposition (INDIA bloc) seat-sharing arrangement in Uttar Pradesh. Political observers note that the partnership seeks to consolidate sections of Dalit and Muslim voters-communities that together form a significant portion of the state's electorate (roughly 19-21% each)-and could influence electoral arithmetic, particularly in closely contested seats. However in the 2022 assembly elections, both AIMIM and ASP performed poorly. AIMIM contested 95 seats and secured around 0.49% of the votes but failed to win any seats, while ASP contested more than 100 seats and polled roughly 0.13% without winning any seat....