'Challenge accepted': Adityanth's retort after Owaisi vows to oust BJP govt in 2022 UP polls

Chief Minister Adityanath said the BJP workers will accept the dare by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and dismissed doubts on his party's return to power in the state.

"Owaisi ji is a big national leader. He goes to different parts of the country to campaign and has his own credibility among people. If he has challenged the BJP, then the BJP worker will accept his challenge," Adityanath was quoted as saying by NDTV.

"The BJP will form the government, and there should be no doubt on this," he said.

Owaisi, who is allying with the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) for the UP assembly polls, said Saturday that they will work hard to ensure Yogi Adityanth-led BJP government doesn't return to the helm of the state.

"Inshallah, we will not allow Yogi (Adityanath) to become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh again. If our morale is high and we work hard, then everything will happen. Inshallah, our endeavour is that the BJP government is not formed in Uttar Pradesh," the Hyderabad-based leader had said NDTV quoted.

AIMIM plans to contest 100 of Uttar Pradesh's 403 Assembly seats, according to NDTV. Its main ally SBSP has, in turn, joined stitched alliances with nine other smaller outfits, together known as Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, which will reportedly contest from all seats.