LUCKNOW: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday called on Muslims in Uttar Pradesh to strengthen their political identity, reacting to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s US Senate race.In a post on X, Owaisi said: “Abdul has won in Michigan; now the Abdul from Uttar Pradesh will have to strengthen his political identity.” He accused the Sangh of trying to turn “Abdul” into a taunt and said the time had come to show that “Abdul does not bow to anyone but Allah”. He ended his post by saying, “No more will we lay out the prayer mat.”El-Sayed won on Wednesday, becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. His victory in Michigan drew attention in India, with Owaisi using the result to make a political appeal to Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.El-Sayed, a Democrat, defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a closely contested election. The seat fell vacant after Democratic Senator Gary Peters decided not to seek re-election. “Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, said in a speech at his election headquarters in Detroit.El-Sayed, who has never held elected office, went from suffering a double-digit defeat in Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial primary eight years ago to winning a seat in the US Senate. The Michigan doctor won despite a last-minute setback to his campaign when Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who had lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, backed Rogers at the eleventh hour.Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP and AIMIM president, has been seeking to expand his party’s presence in Uttar Pradesh. His post linked the US election result to the state’s political debate over representation and leadership.