Setback to BJP, Swami Prasad Maurya, 3 other MLAs join SP ahead of UP polls
Premium- The BJP has suffered a major jolt as nine of its MLAs including three ministers have resigned from the post and party, and are on the way to the Samajwadi Party
Days after resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), MLAs Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini, Bhagwati Sagar and Vinay Shakya joined the Samajwadi Party in presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
The BJP has suffered a major jolt as nine of its MLAs including three ministers have resigned from the post and party, and are on the way to the Samajwadi Party.
The flurry of resignations began with Maurya quitting the Yogi cabinet.
A prominent leader from the OBC community, Maurya had joined the BJP from the BSP of Mayawati.
After Maurya, Chauhan followed suit and resigned as minister on Wednesday.
After quitting as a minister, Dharam Singh Saini met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. "I welcome him to the Samajwadi Party," Yadav said.
BJP MLAs Mukesh Verma, Vinay Shakya, Avtar Singh Bhadana, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar also resigned from the party.
Saini on Thursday said that they willl follow Swami Prasad Maurya and claimed a minister and 3-4 MLAs will resign everyday from the BJP till January 20.
Saini said he had resigned from Yogi Adiyanth government beccause "for five years Dalits, backward classes were suppressed, their voices were suppressed". "We will do whatever Swami Prasad Maurya will say. One minister and 3-4 MLAs will resign everyday till Jan 20," he said.
Saini became the third minister on Thursday who has resigned from the Yogi cabinet in the last four days.
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