Lucknow, Aug 23 (UNI) The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen India (AIMIM) will contest the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the small political parties. The Hyderabad-based Muslim dominated political outfit is in talks with several parties, including Mukhtar Ansari’s Quami Ekta Dal. "AIMIM is open for an alliance for contesting the 2017 state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and talks are underway with several parties in the state. We are confident to fare much better then Bihar in UP elections as the Muslims, the core voters of the Samajwadi party, are disillusioned with the ruling party and are in search of a viable alternative’’, said Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi while talking to UNI on phone yesterday. "Party's UP president Shaukat Ali is in touch with some organisations, some leaders and some parties. It would be too early to really comment on it. Definitely we are open for alliance but not with parties like Samajwadi, Congress or BJP," Mr Owaisi said. "I have met leaders of several parties in UP but I am not involved in those matters. Our state president is there. We will have to wait for some time," he said. Mr Owaisi, who had visited UP on August 13 and had addressed a convention of the party cadre in Lucknow, said his party is getting "very good response" from people which was "very heartening" and gave his party a "lot of confidence" "There is definitely lot of anger against the Samajwadi Party-led state government because they have not fulfilled the promises made in election manifesto. Governance has taken a beating. They have failed to control law and order and now within their own party, they have serious internal differences," he said. Key plank of his party's campaigning in Uttar Pradesh would be "failure" of the SP government.' He alleged that the UP government has not fulfilled the promise of giving 18 per cent reservation to Muslims and opening of schools in minority-concentration districts. "There were eight promises related to Muslim minority in the election manifesto and they have not done at all. Even the allocations made to Ministry of Minority Welfare, not even 50 per cent is released. Out of Rs 3.5 lakh crore budget of UP, only 0.84 per cent is allocated to the department of minority Welfare ...that's for 20 per cent of population," he said. Mr Owaisi said the UP Assembly needs "some strong people" who can talk about development of education, improving of health indicators and on issues of security, adding that "huge" incidents of communal violence and riots have taken place but Muslim MLAs were not "brave enough or assertive enough" to ask pointed questions as to why they are happening. He said out of total 69 Muslims MLAs in UP assembly 40 were from the Samajwadi party yet there was no body to raise the voice for the Muslims in state assembly. "So, these are issues and atrocities on Dalits and Muslims are still continuing," he added. AIMIM state president Shaukat Ali said Asaduddin Owaisi has himself met Maulana Taukir Raza Khan of Itteheudal Millet council of Bareilly and Dr Ayub of the Peace Party and talks with the Congress are also underway. 'We have also conveyed our willingness to join hands with the Quami Ekta Dal and so far the response is positive and detailed talks are likely in September as Asaduddin Owaisi is likely to visit UP for six days in September’’, said Shaukat Ali. He said a prominent Dalit leader Ram Lakhan Pasi has also joined the proposed front. Mr Pasi is chairman of the Uda Devi and Bijlee Pasi Trust. Mr Pasi said he was for a broad-based alliance of the SC, OBCs and Muslims for a long-term battle not confined to mere 2017 assembly polls but the next Lok Sabha election in 2019. UNI MB SV SB 1109