Kathmandu, January 13, 2022
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, two ministers have resigned from the government led by Yogi Adityanath within two days. Similarly, four other MLAs have left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Leader Dara Singh Chouhan resigned from the ministry on Wednesday. Earlier, Minister Swami Prasad Maurya had resigned on Tuesday. Swami Prasad Maurya is known as an influential leader in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Responding to television channels after his resignation, he said, ”The day before I left the BJP, the BJP was number one in politics in Uttar Pradesh. Today it has not been found. After I joined the BJP, I drove the party out of exile for 14 years. I helped form a government with an absolute majority.”
Arrest warrant issued against Maurya
Meanwhile, an arrest warrant has been issued against Swami Prasad Maurya after the Uttar
Pradesh government minister resigned. A court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday on charges of making hate speech in 2014. He has been accused of making indecent remarks against gods and goddesses eight years ago.
It is analyzed that most of the ethnic votes in Uttar Pradesh are with Swami Prasad Maurya. With him, the number of those leaving the BJP is expected to increase. Last Tuesday, BJP MLAs Brajesh Prajapati, Roshan Lal Varsha and Bhagwati Sagar, who are considered supporters of Maurya, also resigned from the party. Similarly, BJP MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana has also resigned from the party and joined the Rastriya Lok Dal.
Both Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh are rumored to be joining the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Yadav has made public the photo taken with both of them and has written in his party as ‘Respectfully welcome’.
In a span of two days, the Indian media has reported that the BJP has been hit by six leaders leaving the government and the party. However, in the meantime, one MLA each from Congress and Samajwadi Party has joined BJP. Congress MLA Naresh Saini and Samajwadi Party MLA Hariom Yadav have joined BJP.
Assembly elections are starting in Uttar Pradesh from February 10. Elections for 403 assembly seats will be held in different phases from February 10 to March 7. The election results will be made public on March 10.
By Karuna Thapa
