UP minister Dharam Singh Saini slams SP Maurya's 'list' of turncoats, says he won’t quit BJP

Earlier in the day, Maurya resigned from the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government and said many more legislators would follow suit.

Uttar Pradesh minister Dharam Singh Saini on Tuesday dismissed rumours of him quitting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joining the Samajwadi Party surfaced.

Uttar Pradesh minister Dharam Singh Saini.  (@BJP4India)

He said he had come to know about his former colleague Swami Prasad Maurya sharing a list of names of BJP legislators who could be jumping ship, adding that he would not be one of them and he would remain in the saffron fold.

“I have come to know that Maurya has given a list of MLAs who are leaving BJP and joining the Samajwadi Party and my name is also in that list. I am and will be in the BJP. I am not leaving the party,” news agency ANI quoted Saini as saying.

Earlier in the day, Maurya resigned from the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government and said many more legislators would follow suit. He said he was resigning due to "gross neglect" towards Dalits, backwards, farmers, unemployed youth and small traders.

Soon after three other BJP MLAs – Brajesh Prajapati, Roshan Lal Varma and Bhagwati Sagar – quit the party.

Maurya was welcomed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who shared an image with the former minister, in the party.

There was no immediate word on the resignations being accepted, amid reports of senior BJP leadership trying to reach out to Maurya. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya took to Twitter to urge the leader to reconsider his move.

Maurya had crossed over to the BJP from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) before the 2017 assembly polls. He is a five-time MLA from Padrauna, while his daughter Sanghmitra Maurya is a BJP MP and represents Badaun in the Lok Sabha.

Uttar Pradesh will see elections in seven phases, starting February 10, according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India.