Setback for BJP: UP Minister Swami Prasad Maurya, 3 more BJP leaders quit; Maurya joins SP

In a jolt to the BJP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the state cabinet.

Informing about his decision, Maurya said in a tweet in Hindi, "Due to the attitude of gross neglect towards Dalits, backwards, farmers, unemployed youth and small and medium-sized traders, I am resigning from the council of ministers of Yogi (Adityanath) of UP."

Yadav shared a photo of him with Maurya on Twitter, and welcomed him into the SP fold.

In his resignation letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Maurya said, "I discharged my responsibilities as the minister for labour, employment, coordination in the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, despite adverse ('vipreet') circumstances and ideology."

Maurya, who hails from a backward caste, had joined the BJP before the 2017 assembly polls. He is the MLA from Padrauna.

His daughter Sanghmitra Maurya is a BJP MP and represents Badaun in Lok Sabha.

The Uttar Pradesh polls will be held in seven phases -- on February 10 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10 along with the four other poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Soon after he went public, three more MLAs, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar announced their resignations, reported NDTV

Roshan Lal Varma, who came to Raj Bhawan with Swami Prasad Maurya's resignation letter, said that Maurya was unwell and hence he had brought the resignation of Maurya.

He said Maurya had already emailed his resignation to the Governor.

Replying to a question, he said, "I will decide after Maurya's resignation is accepted. About other MLAs, you will come to know by January 14."

With inputs from agencies and NDTV