Setting the stage for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram president Chandrashekhar Azad on Thursday announced the formation of the 'Samajik Parivartan Morcha' in Lucknow, with Owaisi naming Azad as the alliance's chief ministerial candidate, news agency ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

Addressing a joint press conference in Lucknow alongside Azad, the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Nagina, Owaisi said the alliance would focus on bringing social change and addressing issues concerning marginalised communities, unemployment and farmers, according to ANI.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

"We have decided to form 'Samajik Parivartan Morcha'. I can say with confidence this will be a strong Morcha to stop the BJP from coming to power in UP for the third time," Owaisi said, as reported by ANI. He added that the change the front envisions would take shape once Chandrashekhar Azad becomes chief minister.

Owaisi also announced that a grand public meeting of the front would be held on the 26th and appealed to the people of Uttar Pradesh to attend it and make it a success, ANI reported. The date was given as the 26th in the reports; the venue was not specified in the ANI report.

The announcement creates a new front in the contest ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, in which the ruling BJP is seeking a third term and the Samajwadi Party is its principal opposition challenger. How the Samajik Parivartan Morcha organises its campaign and contests seats will become clearer after its public meeting on the 26th.