A day after Uttar Pradesh labour minister and OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya tendered his resignation, an arrest warrant has been issued against him in a seven-year-old case.
Maurya will have to appear before the MP-MLA court in Sultanpur on January 24, according to sources.
The case was registered against Maurya seven years ago, when he was in the Bahujan Samaj Party, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
Soon after the resignation of Maurya, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had shared a photograph with Maurya welcoming him to the party. However, he has not officially joined SP.
“Despite a divergent ideology, I worked with dedication in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. But because of the grave oppression of Dalits, OBCs, farmers, unemployed and small businessmen, I am resigning,” read the resignation letter.
Maurya, one of the powerful OBC leaders in the state and multiple-term MLA, joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.
Continuing a flurry of exits that started with Swami Prasad Maurya’s shock resignation on Wednesday, another minister, Dara Singh Chauhan, has quit Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet in Uttar Pradesh.
This is the second Other Backward Class (OBC) leader to quit team Yogi just before the crucial polls next month.
Two ministers and four MLAs from the saffron party have quit so far and are set to join the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav.
“I worked with dedication but I am resigning as I am hurt by this government’s oppressive attitude towards the backward, deprived sections, Dalits, farmers and unemployed youth and the neglect of quota for the backward and Dalits,” read Chauhan’s resignation.
