In a big jolt to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the state cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Maurya, who hails from a backward caste, had joined the BJP before the 2017 assembly polls. He is the MLA from Padrauna.
Informing about his decision, Maurya said in a tweet in Hindi, "Due to the attitude of gross neglect towards Dalits, backwards, farmers, unemployed youth and small and medium-sized traders, I am resigning from the council of ministers of Yogi (Adityanath) of UP."
In his resignation letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Maurya said, "I discharged my responsibilities as the minister for labour, employment, coordination in the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, despite adverse ('vipreet') circumstances and ideology."
Maurya, a powerful OBC (Other Backward Class) leader and five-time MLA, joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Speaking to NDTV after his resignation, Maurya said the saffron party has "worked against the people".
"Until I quit the BSP, it was the no 1 party in UP. Now it is nowhere. When I joined the BJP, it came out of 14 years of "banwaas (exile)" and formed a majority government," Maurya said. "But they have worked against the people. I expressed dissent at appropriate platforms but my voice was never heard. The result is I have had to resign," he added.
Meanwhile, his daughter Sanghmitra Maurya is a BJP MP and represents Badaun in Lok Sabha constituency.
When are the Uttar Pradesh polls?
The Uttar Pradesh polls will be held in seven phases -- on February 10 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10 along with the four other poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
