AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, launched a sharp attack on Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav, accusing him of showing solidarity with a BJP chief minister while staying silent on the alleged targeting of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. The post, shared on X, questioned the ideological foundations of SP's brand of socialism.

Context

Owaisi's post, written in Hindi, opens with a pointed couplet-style jibe: 'Mohanji ke samman mein, Akhlesh bhaiya maidan mein' ('In honour of Mohanji, dear Akhilesh has taken the field') — framing Akhilesh's gesture as one driven by personal loyalty to a BJP leader rather than political principle. The specific incident involving 'Mohanji' has not been independently confirmed, but the political charge Owaisi builds around it is unambiguous.

Owaisi wrote that 'Uttar Pradesh mein aaye din Musalmanon ko nishana banaya jata hai, unpar jhoothe ilzam lagakar unhe jail bheja jata hai' — 'Day after day, Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are targeted, slapped with false charges and sent to jail.' He contrasted this with what he described as Akhilesh's conspicuous silence on those cases, even as the SP chief reportedly expressed sympathy for the BJP chief minister in question.

Policy Backdrop

The Samajwadi Party has historically positioned itself as a defender of both Other Backward Classes (OBCs), particularly the Yadav community, and Muslims — a coalition that powered its 2012-2017 government under Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. Critics, including AIMIM, have long argued that Muslim interests within this alliance are subordinated to Yadav community priorities whenever the two come into tension.

Owaisi's closing line crystallises this critique: 'SP ka 'samajwad' asal mein Yadav samajwad hai' — 'SP's socialism is, in reality, Yadav socialism.' This framing echoes a line of attack AIMIM has deployed since entering Uttar Pradesh electoral contests more aggressively after 2019, challenging SP's claim to be the primary vehicle for Muslim political representation in the state.

Stakeholders and Impact

The statement is directed at Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh, who constitute a significant share of the electorate and have traditionally leaned toward the Samajwadi Party as the main opposition to BJP. Owaisi's intervention seeks to widen a trust deficit between SP and this constituency ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Samajwadi Party supporters and leadership have not yet issued a formal response to the post. The charge of 'Yadav socialism' is particularly sensitive for SP, which has spent years trying to broaden its base beyond its core caste constituency while retaining the Muslim vote that is essential to its electoral arithmetic in western and central Uttar Pradesh.

What's Next

Political watchers will be tracking whether Akhilesh Yadav or senior SP leaders respond to Owaisi's provocation, and whether the exchange signals a more sustained AIMIM campaign to peel away Muslim support from SP in the run-up to 2027. Any shift in opposition alliance dynamics in Uttar Pradesh — particularly between parties competing for the same minority voter base — could reshape the anti-BJP consolidation calculus in India's most electorally decisive state.