New Delhi: In another jolt to the ruling BJP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, state minister Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday resigned from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet.
Earlier on Tuesday, minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit and three MLAs announced resignation from the party. Chauhan hit out at CM Yogi and the BJP, saying oppressed, poor, backward, Dalits and youth “on whose shoulders the BJP rode to power in 2017, did not get justice, while others took all benefits”. An OBC like Maurya, Chauhan said he would consult his samaj before deciding the next course of action even as the SP tweeted a welcome message.
Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lauded him as a “relentless fighter of the struggle for social justice”. He said, “The SP and its allies will unite and empower the movement of equality and eliminate discrimination.” Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya urged Chauhan to reconsider his decision before getting aboard a “sinking boat”. Sources claimed around 12-14 BJP MLAs, including ministers, would submit their resignations in coming days.
Meanwhile, an arrest warrant against Maurya was issued by a local court in a seven-year-old case. The court fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing.
The case was lodged in 2014 for alleged objectionable comments against Hindu gods. An arrest warrant was issued against Maurya in 2016, but it was stayed by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.