New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday (January 14) hit out at the ruling BJP as he joined Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party ahead of a seven-phased state Assembly election.


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Accusing the BJP of duping backward castes, Maurya said the countdown of the saffron party’s end has begun. "I want to tell the BJP that its final countdown begins today. By misleading the people of the country and the state, BJP has thrown dust in their eyes and exploited them. Now we have to eliminate BJP and free Uttar Pradesh from its exploitation,” ANI quoted him as saying. 



Swami Prasad Maurya, another rebel UP minister Dharam Singh Saini along with five BJP MLAs Bhagwati Sagar, Roshanlal Verma, Vinay Shakya, Brijesh Prajapati and Mukesh Verma, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary formally joined the SP today in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav. 



However, former UP minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who quit the Yogi cabinet on Wednesday (January 12), did not formally join the Samajwadi Party on Friday. As per IANS sources, Chauhan, along with some more BJP legislators, will join Akhilesh Yadav's party on Sunday.


Welcoming Maurya and other ex-BJP leaders, the SP chief attacked BJP and said its wickets are falling one by one. “BJP wickets falling one after the other, although our CM does not know how to play cricket. As Swami Prasad Maurya said wherever he goes, the government is formed, even this time he brought a huge number of leaders along with him,” the former UP CM said. 


Taking a dig at the saffron party over raid on perfume trader Piyush Jain instead of Samajwadi Party MLC Pushpraj Jain, who had made ‘Samajwadi perfume’ for SP last year, Yadav said, “Who can forget the Digital India error...Raid was supposed to be somewhere else but ended up in their own house. We were waiting for Assembly polls.  The Cycle is very strong as Samajwadi and Ambedkarwadi have come together and no one can stop this.”


Elections in Uttar Pradesh for the 403 assembly constituencies will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The poll dates in the state are February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.



(With agency inputs)


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