Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said that he will take a final call on his political future on January 14 and confirmed that he met Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, who already welcomed him into the party fold.
Maurya, a prominent other backward classes (OBC) leader who abruptly quit the state cabinet on Tuesday, held meetings with his supporters at his 14, Kalidas Marg residence in Lucknow.
The labour minister said he will make a final announcement on January 14. “It’s an auspicious day when the country celebrates the festival of Makar Sankranti. The announcement will prove to be last nail in the BJP government’s coffin,” he said.
“My decision to quit has triggered an earthquake in the BJP. I pleaded with the leaders for the welfare of Dalits and backwards but they couldn’t care less,” he added.
The announcement came on a day state environment minister Dara SIngh Chauhan also quit the cabinet and said he will make a decision on his next step on January 14, indicating that the rebel leaders were planning a big move that day.
Three of Maurya’s loyalists -- Bhagwati Sagar from Bilhaur (Kanpur), Brajesh Prajapati from Tindwari (Banda), and Roshan Lal Verma of Tilhar (Shahjahanpur) - quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday. Maurya held closed-door meetings with the rebel lawmakers on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}Three of Maurya’s loyalists -- Bhagwati Sagar from Bilhaur (Kanpur), Brajesh Prajapati from Tindwari (Banda), and Roshan Lal Verma of Tilhar (Shahjahanpur) - quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday. Maurya held closed-door meetings with the rebel lawmakers on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}A fourth lawmaker -- Meerpur MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana -- quit the BJP and joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD), an ally of the SP.
In his resignation letter addressed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, which he posted on social media on Tuesday, Maurya said he “worked with dedication despite following a divergent ideology” but was resigning “because of the grave oppression of Dalits, OBCs, farmers, unemployed and small businessmen”.
A five-term MLA, Maurya was a senior leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party till 2016, and served as a minister in Mayawati’s government. He is considered to be influential among OBCs and may help broad-base the SP’s appeal.
Shortly after his resignation on Tuesday,Yadav welcomed Maurya to his party: “Known for his fight for social justice and equality, Swami Prasad Maurya is welcome with greetings and honour, along with his workers and supporters. There will be a revolution on the social justice front. There will be a change in 2022,” he tweeted.
Maurya confirmed on Wednesday that he met Yadav and that the meeting was warm and cordial, “We had discussions over the current political scenario in UP and plan for the assembly elections. A large number of BJP MLAs are in contact with me. They will soon desert the party,” Maurya said.
When asked if BJP had directed deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, also a prominent OBC leader, to talk to him , Maurya called him a “younger brother” but added that the deputy CM was no less “out of sorts” within the party.
”Backward leaders in the BJP, including Keshav Prasad Maurya, are sidelined. They should join hands with me in the fight for social justice and rights of weaker sections in society,” he said.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, in a tweet on Wednesday, said, “It hurts if any member of the family goes astray. I would urge the respected leaders that they will harm themselves by riding a sinking boat. Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan should reconsider their decision.”
Swami Prasad Maurya’s resignation is yet to be accepted.
Maurya was the labour and employment minister in the (BJP government, representing the Padrauna assembly seat (in Kushinagar district). He enjoys considerable influence over the OBC Maurya-Kushwaha- Shakya-Saini community, and analysts say his exit will likely hurt the BJP.
Tuesday’s events were reminiscent of those of June 22, 2016, when Maurya exited the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a few months before the 2017 assembly elections. An OBC poster-boy of the BSP, he was the party’s national general secretary and leader of opposition in the legislative assembly from 2012.