Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya and his loyalists on Friday completed their switch to the Samajwadi Party, days after quitting the BJP in a big jolt to the ruling party less than a month ahead of the assembly elections in the state. 

OBC leader and the state’s labour minister Maurya joined Samajwadi Party in the presence of supremo Akhilesh Yadav, along with another rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini. Five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP today. 

The five BJP MLAs are Bhagwati Sagar (Bilhaur in Kanpur), Roshanlal Verma (Tilhar in Shahjahanpur), Vinay Shakya (Bidhuna in Auraiya), Brijesh Prajapati (Tindwari in Bahraich) and Mukesh Verma (Shikohabad in Firozabad).

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“Today, the conch shell has sounded for the end of BJP. By misleading the people of the country and the state,” Maurya was quoted as saying by ANI at the ceremony. 

“BJP has thrown dust in their eyes and exploited the people. Now by eliminating BJP, Uttar Pradesh has to be freed from the exploitation of BJP,” he added. 

Maurya, a powerful OBC (other backwards class) leader who is an MLA from the Padrauna constituency, joined the BJP in 2016 after a long stint with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). His resignation from Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet on Tuesday sparked the exodus of leaders from the ruling alliance in the state that has seen a dozen lawmakers leave the BJP and the Apna Dal (Sonelal). 

In his resignation letter, Maurya accused the BJP of neglecting and disrespecting Dalits, backward castes and other minorities during their five-year tenure in power. Maurya also hailed Akhilesh Yadav as the “voice of the oppressed” and “our leader”. 

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The 68-year-old’s exit is seen as a big blow to the BJP, as it appears to strengthen the SP’s influence among the non-Yadav OBCs in the state, less than a month before the crucial elections that will also have an impact on the 2024 parliamentary polls.

Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to have a seven-phase poll beginning from February 10. Votes will be counted on March 10.