Swami Prasad Maurya, against whom a non bailable warrant has been issued a day after he left the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections, on Thursday, January 13 said that his morale will not be weakened.
Yesterday, a local court on issued an arrest warrant against BJP MLA Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently resigned as cabinet minister, in a seven year old case. The case was lodged against Maurya in 2014 for allegedly making objectionable comments against Hindu gods.
The MP-MLA court Judge Yogesh Kumar Yadav issued the warrant against him after he did not attend the court hearing on Wednesday.
Reacting to the warrant, Maurya said "It's just 2nd day of my resignation as UP minister and even if dozens of cases registered against me, my morale will not be weakened." "The more they trouble me, the more strongly I'll defeat them,"he added.
In 2016, an arrest warrant was issued against him in the same case which was stayed by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.
Issuing the warrant, the Judge fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing.
The court had on January 6 directed Maurya to appear before it on January 12 but he did not appear, lawyer Anil Tiwari said.
Maurya, an influential OBC leader, had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday. After resigning, the leader clarified he was not going back to the saffron camp and indicated joining Samajwadi Party on Friday.
He claimed that his resignation from the cabinet has triggered an earthquake in the BJP.
Maurya's decision to walk out of the BJP cabinet has triggered a series of resignations by BJP MLAs. Four MLAs -- Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati, Bhagwati Sagar and Vinay Shakya -- have already announced their exit following him.
