Amid the ongoing political turmoil of ministers quitting and changing their parties, an MP-MLA court in Sultanpur has issued an arrest warrant against Swami Prasad Maurya. He is directed to appear before court on January 24.
The arrest warrant has been issued in connection to a seven year old case where Maurya had allegedly given derogatory statements about the Hindu Gods.
Noting his absence in Wednesday’s hearing, the Additional Chief Magistrate has ordered an undone arrest warrant against Maurya.
Swami Prasad Maurya, former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister resigned on Tuesday and shared his resignation on Twitter. He cited the reason behind his resignation is negligence towards Dalits, farmers, small and medium scale businesses and unemployed youths by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.
“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,” stated the resignation letter to Anandiben Patel.
दलितों, पिछड़ों, किसानों, बेरोजगार नौजवानों एवं छोटे-लघु एवं मध्यम श्रेणी के व्यापारियों की घोर उपेक्षात्मक रवैये के कारण उत्तर प्रदेश के योगी मंत्रिमंडल से इस्तीफा देता हूं। pic.twitter.com/ubw4oKMK7t
— Swami Prasad Maurya (@SwamiPMaurya) January 11, 2022
Speculations are high that he is going to join Samajwadi party. Minutes after his resignation, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted a picture with Maurya.
“Maurya has always stood for justice and is a well-known face among the masses. I welcome him and all the other leaders, workers and supporters into the Samajwadi party,” Yadav tweeted.
सामाजिक न्याय और समता-समानता की लड़ाई लड़ने वाले लोकप्रिय नेता श्री स्वामी प्रसाद मौर्या जी एवं उनके साथ आने वाले अन्य सभी नेताओं, कार्यकर्ताओं और समर्थकों का सपा में ससम्मान हार्दिक स्वागत एवं अभिनंदन!
सामाजिक न्याय का इंक़लाब होगा ~ बाइस में बदलाव होगा#बाइसमेंबाइसिकल pic.twitter.com/BPvSK3GEDQ
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 11, 2022
However, Maurya has refuted the claims on Wednesday, “I have rejected the BJP and there is no question of going back. I have only quit as a minister. I will quit the BJP soon. For now, I am not joining the Samajwadi Party.”
Following Maurya’s resignation as the UP’s labour minister, four other Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs — Dara Singh Chauhan, Tilhar MLA Roshan Lal Verma, Bilhaur MLA Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Tindwari MLA Brajesh Prajapati quit the party. Today, Dara Singh Chauhan has also quit BJP citing the same reason as that of Maurya.
UP elections are scheduled to be held in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10.
