The BJP’s aim to capture power in election-bound Uttar Pradesh received a shot in the arm on Monday with Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent OBC leader who had recently quit BSP, joining the party.
The BJP’s aim to capture power in election-bound Uttar Pradesh received a shot in the arm on Monday with Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent OBC leader who had recently quit BSP, joining the party.
BJP president Amit Shah, the party’s UP unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and state in-charge Om Mathur were present when Swami Prasad Maurya joined the saffron fold at the party headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road. Assembly elections in UP are scheduled to be held in early 2017. The former BSP member had accused BSP supremo Mayawati of auctioning party tickets for elections and turning money-making into an “industrial institution” to fulfil her personal interests.
After joining the BJP, the four-time MLA said he was impressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work to empower the weaker sections and lashed out at Ms Mayawati for allegedly selling tickets. He claimed that if he received the support of the BJP’s leadership, then the party would come to power in the state with a strong majority.
Considered as a prominent OBC face in the state, Mr Maurya is said to enjoy influence with a section of OBC voters including the Kushwaha, Maurya, Shakya and the Sainis.
In a message to his supporters, he requested the BJP to give due respect to them whenever they join it in the future.
“There are also many MLAs who will join the party,” he said and took the names of some former MLAs who joined the BJP along with him.
Attacking Ms Mayawati, he said the BSP supremo had been marginalising the backwards castes and was likely to give them only 26-27 seats in the 403-seat UP Assembly elections.
“BSP... is not only an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, but also to our Constitution,” he said.
