As Swami Prasad Maurya joins SP, his old video calling Akhilesh's party 'mafia' goes viral

Former Uttar Pradesh Ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini, who quit the Yogi Adityanath cabinet this week, joined the Samajwadi Party on Friday in the presence of the party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Several sitting MLAs Vinay Shakya, Bhagwati Sagar, Roshan Lal Verma, Brajesh Kumar Prajapati and Mukesh Verma have also joined SP. Amid this development, SP Maurya's old clip slamming Samajwadi Party has gone viral. In the video from the Uttar Pradesh assembly, reportedly from 2016, the ex-cabinet minister called SP, a party of goons and mafias.

Sharing the clip on the microblogging site, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Priti Gandhi said, "This gentleman, who is shouting in the House, is telling the Samajwadi Party the truth, his name is Swami Prasad Maurya!!" 

SP Maurya, Dharam Saini join SP

Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini, former BJP Ministers, joined Samajwadi Party on Friday. They were joined by five sitting saffron party legislators. The spate of resignations begins with SP Maurya quitting the Yogi Cabinet. A prominent leader from the OBC community, Maurya had joined BJP from Bahujan Samaj Party. Dara Singh resigned as Environment minister on Wednesday and Dharam Singh Saini became the third minister on Thursday.

Maurya had earlier said that " Under BJP's rule here, the poor people are not getting the benefit of reservation, all the vacancies are vacant. The state government is giving everything in hands of private firms. The capitalists are getting encouragement. How can the government shy away from its responsibilities?"

For 2022 polls, Samajwadi Party has stitched a coalition of smaller parties and has emerged as the main rival of the ruling BJP government in the state. The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. 

Image: Twitter/@ANINewsUP