UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya resigns, joins SP

In a big jolt to BJP in UP, a minister and three MLAs quit and joined the party's main challenger, Akhilesh Yadav. Swami Prasad Maurya, a top minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, posted his resignation letter on Twitter. Soon afterthree more MLAs, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar announced their resignations. Maurya resigned as Labour, employment, and coordination minister. Soon after he resigned, SP chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter and shared a photo with Maurya welcoming him to the party.

"Despite a divergent ideology, I worked with dedication in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. But because of the grave oppression of Dalits, OBCs, farmers, unemployed and small businessmen, I am resigning," Swami Prasad Maurya wrote in his resignation letter. He told reporters: "What impact my exit will have on the BJP will be obvious after the 2022 assembly election." Swami Prasad Maurya, a OBC  leader and multiple-term MLA, joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister, posted an appeal on Twitter: "I don't know why Swami Prasad Maurya quit but I appeal to him, don't quit but let us talk. Decisions taken in haste can backfire." The development came on a day home minister Amit Shah and Adityanath held a key BJP meeting in the national capital as the party shortlists its probable candidates for the initial phases of the state assembly polls before its Central Election Committee meeting to finalise the names. Uttar Pradesh is set to see a seven-phased Assembly election between February 10 and March 7. The result of the keenly watched polls will be declared with that of four other poll-bound states on March 10.