UP: Three more MLA’s quit BJP

Top OBC leader and state minister Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet on Tuesday, citing “serious oppression of Dalits, OBCs, farmers, unemployed, and small businessmen” under Adityanath, and joined Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, in a major setback for the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Roshan Lal Verma (Shahjahanpur), Brijesh Prajapati (Tindwari), and Bhagwati Sagar (Bilhaur) were the next three MLAs to resign. According to sources, the next 48 hours (or until the official candidate list is released) are critical for the ruling BJP, as more sitting MLAs may follow suit, a development that could hurt the party’s efforts to reclaim power on the basis of “development, law and order, and social equality” during its rule.

After leaving Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Swami Prasad Maurya, a powerful OBC leader and five-time MLA, joined the BJP in 2016. He was an important part of the BJP’s strategy for attracting OBC voters to fight Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.

The Samajwadi Party tweeted a photo of Maurya and Verma with Akhilesh Yadav, welcoming them in the party

“I do not know the reasons why respected Swami Prasad Mauryaji has resigned,” stated senior BJP politician and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in response to Maurya’s departure. I appeal that he should sit to talk. Any decision taken in haste could prove wrong.”