UP ex-minister Maurya says no returning to BJP; may join SP on Friday

Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said he was not going back to the saffron camp and indicated joining Samajwadi Party on Friday.

Maurya, who quit as minister on Tuesday, claimed that his resignation from the cabinet has triggered an earthquake in the BJP.

Meanwhile, a Sultanpur district court during the day issued an arrest warrant against him in a seven years old case in which he was accused of making objectionable comments against Hindu deities.

Asked if Sanghmitra Maurya, his daughter and a BJP MP from Badaun, will follow suit, he said she would take a call on her own.

Though he hasn't yet announced joining Akhilesh Yadav, the five-time MLA from Padrauna in Kushinagar, thanked the SP chief for welcoming his decision to quit the state cabinet.

Akhilesh had shared a photograph of him with Maurya after the latter's high voltage resignation from the BJP on Tuesday.

Asked who else is joining SP with him, Maurya said, "Everything will be clear on January 14".

Maurya ruled out returning to the BJP despite efforts by its several leaders to placate him.

"I know many small and big leaders of BJP are calling me but I am not taking their calls," he said.

"My decision to quit has triggered an earthquake in the BJP. I pleaded with the leaders for the welfare of Dalits and backwards but they couldn't care less," he said.

Maurya's decision to walk out of the BJP cabinet has triggered a series of resignations by BJP MLAs.

Four MLAs -- Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati, Bhagwati Sagar and Vinay Shakya -- have already announced their exit following him.

Maurya -- who belongs to an OBC caste known by titles such as Maurya, Kushwaha, Saini and Shakya -- later converted to Buddhism -- had crossed over to the BJP ahead of 2017 state elections from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.

An influential non-Yadav leader, Maurya has a support base in many districts of the Purvanchal region.

He said for five years he raised issues of Dalits, Backwards and deprived section of the society, but the party didn't give two hoots.

Asked if deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya approached him, Maurya called him a “younger brother” but added that he is no less 'out of sorts' within the party.

Meanwhile, the Sultanpur MP-MLA court Judge Yogesh Kumar Yadav fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing in the 2014 case.

The court had on January 6 directed Maurya to appear before it on January 12 but he did not appear, lawyer Anil Tiwari said.