Day after quitting as UP cabinet minister, arrest warrant issued against Swami Prasad Maurya

Swami Prasad Maurya, an influential OBC leader, had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday. After stoking a political storm by his exit from the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, Maurya on Wednesday asserted that he does not plan on returning to the BJP.

Sultanpur: A local court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against BJP MLA Swami Prasad Maurya, a day after he resigned as a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh.

The arrest warrant against Swami Prasad Maurya was issued in connection with a seven-year-old case. The case was lodged against Maurya in 2014 for allegedly making objectionable comments against Hindu gods.

The MP-MLA court Judge Yogesh Kumar Yadav issued the warrant against him after he did not attend the court hearing on Wednesday. In 2016, an arrest warrant was issued against him in the same case which was stayed by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.

Issuing the warrant, the Judge fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing. The court had on January 6 directed Maurya to appear before it on January 12 but he did not appear, lawyer Anil Tiwari said. 

Maurya, an influential OBC leader, had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday. After stoking a political storm by his exit from the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, MLA Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday (January 12) asserted that he does not plan on returning to the BJP. 

Talking to reporters, he said, "I have rejected the BJP and there is no question of going back.” "I have only quit as a minister. I will quit the BJP soon. For now, I am not joining the Samajwadi Party.” 

The UP MLA claimed his resignation had set off a ‘storm in the BJP and had shaken the party’. As per reports, in an effort to bring him back into the fold ahead of crucial Assembly elections,  some senior BJP leaders had spoken to Maurya on the phone after he stepped down. 

Soon after Maurya’s resignation on Tuesday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted his photograph with him, confirming that the latter would join the SP. The development comes in the wake of UP polls. The state will vote in seven phases beginning from February 10. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.