Swami Prasad Maurya Resigns From Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet And Joins The Samajwadi Party

Swami Prasad Maurya, the senior OBC leader and cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh, resigned from his ministerial post on Tuesday, claiming that the Yogi Adityanath government was neglecting Dalits, OBCs, farmers, and the youth despite his diligent performance. Mr Maurya was welcomed into the Samajwadi Party by party president Akhilesh Yadav right after submitting his resignation letter to Governor Anandiben Patel.

In Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet, the five-time MLA and sitting legislator from Padrauna in Kushinagar, Purvanchal, held the Labour, Employment, and Coordination responsibility.

Mr Maurya’s resignation is a major setback for the BJP’s OBC strategy in east and central UP ahead of the 2022 Assembly election, as Mr Maurya, who spent most of his life with the BSP, is a popular figure among the most backward castes, particularly the Maurya and Kushwaha communities he leads.

Sanghamitra Maurya, his daughter, is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Budaun, where she defeated joint SP-BSP candidate Dharmendra Yadav in 2019.

Mr Maurya, who comes from the Kanshiram branch of Bahujan politics and is known for his strong rhetoric, said in his resignation letter that he worked conscientiously in the administration despite adverse conditions and an ideology that differed from the BJP’s.

His arrival is a further boost for the SP, which has already forged key alliances in east UP with parties backed by the Maurya, Noniya Chauhan, Kurmi, and Rajbhar castes as it seeks to improve acceptance among the numerically significant and dominant OBCs, whom the BJP has been aggressively courting and grooming with welfare schemes, Hindutva, and representation.

Mr. Yadav met Mr Maurya shortly after his resignation and said he was pleased to have a leader who is committed to “social justice and equality.” Mr Yadav stated that in 2022, there would be a revolution of social justice and a transformation.

Mr Maurya was one of the BJP officials who openly opposed naming Mr Adityanath as the campaign’s face in 2022.