A day after exit from BJP, arrest warrant issued against Swami Prasad Maurya over 2014 communal statement

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An arrest warrant has been issued by MP-MLA court in Sultanpur against former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit from the post on Tuesday. The court has asked him to appear before January 24.

He had been accused of stoking communal feelings when he was in the BSP, seven years ago. Maurya has been asked to appear in court on January 24.

When asked, Maurya laughed off the development saying, "All this and much more will happen now."

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Coming as another jolt to the ruling BJP, UP minister Dara Singh Chauhan also submitted his resignation from the Yogi Adityanath government on Wednesday. His resignation comes a day after Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the council of ministers.

In his terse resignation letter to the Governor, Chauhan said that the Yogi government had failed to address the aspirations of Dalits, OBCs and weaker sections of society and was apathetic towards the problems of the youth. He further said that the government was mishandling reservation for Dalits.

Chauhan, who held the Environment and Forest portfolio, is a former BSP MP who joined the BJP in 2015. He was elected from Mau and belongs to the OBCs.

Chauhan's resignation is yet another in the growing list of resignations in the UP BJP. So far, six MLAs, including Maurya, have stepped down from the party and if reports are to be believed, there are more in the line.

While the BJP officially refused to react to the development, a party functionary said that those leaders who knew that their performance was below average and could be denied ticket, are taking this step.

(With inputs from IANS)

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