Syed Asim Waqar, the national spokesperson of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), joined the Congress party on Wednesday, marking a significant setback for Asaduddin Owaisi ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Waqar accused AIMIM of claiming to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while, in practice, directing much of its political energy against the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and other opposition formations seeking to unseat the ruling party. Waqar formally joined the Congress at the party's headquarters in New Delhi, in the presence of AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Rajendra Pal Gautam, state Congress president Ajay Rai, and AICC Minority Department chairman Imran Pratapgarhi.

The event underscored the importance Congress is placing on drawing in prominent Muslim political figures as it works to rebuild its organizational base in Uttar Pradesh, a state where its electoral presence has been marginal for years. Explaining his decision, Waqar said that those who genuinely wish to remove the BJP from power should focus their efforts on that goal rather than expending energy fighting fellow opposition parties. He argued that all those who love the country share a single objective: to oust the BJP and form a secular government that serves the public interest. According to Waqar, this shared objective was being undermined by AIMIM's approach on the ground. 

Waqar was sharply critical of his former party's record, saying that while AIMIM's leadership publicly spoke of fighting the BJP and its ideology, its actual battles were fought against the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and others opposed to the BJP. He suggested that this pattern effectively weakened the broader opposition, reasoning that continued infighting among BJP's opponents ultimately served the ruling party's interests. Waqar, who spent nearly a decade with AIMIM and had previously spent two decades with the Samajwadi Party, framed his exit as a matter of political conviction rather than personal grievance. The defection is being widely viewed as a blow to Owaisi's ambitions in Uttar Pradesh, where AIMIM has sought to consolidate Muslim votes ahead of the 2027 polls, following a stronger-than-expected showing in Bihar's 2025 elections.

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Waqar had been regarded as one of AIMIM's most visible faces in the state, and his departure comes at a time when Congress, in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, is attempting a comeback after years of poor performance. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, Congress won only two of the 399 seats it contested, while AIMIM failed to secure a single seat despite fielding dozens of candidates. The political landscape shifted somewhat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the Samajwadi Party won 37 of the state's 80 seats and Congress secured six, bringing the INDIA bloc's total in Uttar Pradesh to 43.

Beyond his remarks on AIMIM's political strategy, Waqar also referenced allegations involving a Bengal-based leader accused of ties to the BJP, saying that a Congress-led government at the Centre would investigate the matter further. His comments reflected a broader effort to position Congress as the more consistent anti-BJP force among opposition parties. The move adds to a series of realignments within India's opposition camp as parties position themselves ahead of the high-stakes 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, where BJP, Samajwadi Party and Congress are expected to contest in what analysts anticipate will be a closely fought race. Whether Waqar's exit meaningfully dents AIMIM's standing among Muslim voters in the state, or strengthens Congress's efforts to rebuild its base, remains to be seen as both parties recalibrate their strategies in the lead-up to the polls.

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