UP polls 2017: Are BSP, AIMIM eyeing on an alliance post election results?

Hyderabad: Anything can happen in politics and it is only votes that decide whether friends will turn foes or vice versa or new bonhomie created. Something like that can be seen after the result of Assembly election in the state of Uttar Pradesh on March 11. Presently, there is no clarity whether which political party will win the polls and form government. All major parties (SP-Congress alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party-BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party-BSP) contesting the election are claiming that they will have the majority support. However, a fractured mandate is expected by many. In case this happens, what is the way out? Interestingly, if SP-Congress fails to get the majority then they will be in trouble. BSP will not join the alliance as the SP and BSP have history of enmity. In case BJP fails to get the majority, it will have no option but to search for an alliance or sit in opposition. Who will form an alliance with the BJP is not certain. BSP has already made it clear that it will not form an alliance with BJP. However, we have witnessed political parties twisting and bending their own pre-poll statements after the results. However, interesting, if BSP gets a good amount of votes but falls short of the majority then what will happen? How will Mayawati try to fill the gap? Being a costly affair, no party wants re-election. The answer seems to be hidden in the election speeches of Mayawati and the recent statement of AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi. Mayawati has on countless occasion, in her rallies, requested Muslims not to "waste" their votes by giving the same to SP or BJP. And AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi recently said that he forsees both the ruling Samajwadi Party and BJP losing at the hustings. However, he made no adverse comment about the BSP. "I definitely foresee Samajwadi Party losing along with BJP," the Hyderabad Lok Sabha member said. Owaisi alleged that during their five-year and nearly three-year tenures respectively, SP in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP at the Centre have failed in governance, and in controlling communalism and providing jobs. "They (SP and BJP) have been failures so far," he said. So is this a hint that for BSP, AIMIM will act as filler and may support Mayawati in case her party gets close to the majority and in turn help her in forming the government? But for playing the role as that of a filler, AIMIM first has to win some seats in the state. Well, for certain answer, one has to wait until 11 March when the result will be out. But, it appears, that this could be the case. However, all depends on the performance of the Meanwhile, when asked if his party is open to the idea of aligning with Mayawati's BSP in the post-poll scenario, Owaisi declined to be drawn into the issue, saying he has no "knowledge" what the poll verdict would be like. "This question can only be answered on March 11 when the results come because first of all, I (AIMIM) have to win seats. We will decide when the verdict comes," he said. Owaisi refused to comment on the narrative on the possible fractured verdict in Uttar Pradesh, saying results on March 11 would "throw everything in right perspective".