Political activity surrounding the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has begun intensifying well in advance. Varanasi often seen as the biggest political battleground in Uttar Pradesh that Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), has made full preparations to contest three major Assembly seats in the district in the next election.
Varanasi district and its rural areas has a total of eight Assembly seats, all of which have remained under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allied parties for the past 10 years. Among these eight constituencies, the most talked about are Varanasi South, Varanasi North and Cantt, and AIMIM has now begun preparations to field its candidates on all three seats.
Party District Vice-President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari said that the state president has already given the green signal for these three constituencies and that the party is fully engaged in its preparations. He said AIMIM enjoys strong public support in these areas and will, therefore, enter the contest without any compromise or alliance.
Ansari said AIMIM’s decision to contest is likely to create a stir in political circles because Muslim voters have significant influence in these constituencies. In seats where even a small percentage of votes can alter the final outcome, the party’s presence could have a major impact. Based on the previous election results, AIMIM’s entry into these seats may create unease in the Samajwadi Party camp.
Among Varanasi’s eight Assembly constituencies, South, Cantt and North are considered especially high-profile seats. One of the main reasons is that in the 2022 Assembly elections, BJP MLA Dr Neelkanth Tiwari won the South seat by a very narrow margin. At the same time, the constituency has remained a BJP stronghold for decades.
This seat has also remained in the spotlight because issues such as the Dalmandi road widening project and the Kashi Gyanvapi matter fall under its jurisdiction and have continued to draw attention in court as well as in public discourse.
As for the Cantt and North Assembly seats, reports had also emerged during the first phase of the SIR process that a large number of voters were left out of the electoral rolls in these constituencies. In such a situation, it remains to be seen what changes take place in the political equations after AIMIM contests these Assembly seats in Varanasi.
