Swami Prasad Maurya, who left BJP to join SP before UP elections, loses Fazilnagar seat by over 45,000 votes

Swami Prasad Maurya got 71,015 votes while his BJP rival Surendra Kumar Kushwaha polled 1.16 lakh votes.

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UP Assembly Election results 2022: Former minister in the Yogi Adityanath government Swami Prasad Maurya, who switched over to the Samajwadi Party (SP) before 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, lost from the Fazilnagar seat on Thursday (March 10). 

Maurya lost to his BJP rival Surendra Kumar Kushwaha by over 45,000 votes.

According to the Election Commission, Swami Prasad Maurya got 71,015 votes and Kushwaha polled 1.16 lakh votes. Maurya, who joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party on January 14 this year, got 31.59% of votes while Kushwaha received 51.61%.

It is notable that the prominent OBC leader had joined the SP with six other BJP MLAs, including rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary.

Maurya was the state Labour Minister and his leaving the BJP was seen as a jolt to the saffron party and a shot in the arm to the SP, considering his influence among the non-Yadav OBCs in the state.