Back-to-back resignations: Yogi government ministers, MLAs quit BJP before UP elections

With less than a month left for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, tensions are already at its peak in the electoral state. Three ministers of Yogi Adityanath cabinet have resigned in so many days. There are speculations that he may join hands with the Samajwadi Party.

The first person to leave BJP was Swami Prasad Maurya, an OBC leader who served as the Minister of Labor, Employment, Coordination in the Yogi Adityanath government. His exit was followed by three other BJP MLAs – Roshanlal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar.

A day after Maurya’s exit from the BJP and subsequent meeting with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, UP minister Dara Singh Chouhan resigned from the Yogi Adityanath government. BJP MLAs Mukesh Verma, Vinay Shakya, Bala Prasad Awasthi and Avtar Singh Bhadana also resigned from the primary membership of the party.

Reading: How rebellion in Yogi government prompts for non-Yadav OBC votes in Uttar Pradesh elections

This was followed by UP minister Dharam Singh Saini, who tendered his resignation on Thursday. Saini, who met Akhilesh Yadav on the same day, even claimed that “one minister and two-three MLAs will leave the BJP” every day till January 20.

BJP leaders who left the party in recent times:

Swami Prasad Maurya

Was MLA for five times, Swami Prasad Maurya (68) had joined the BJP for the 2017 UP assembly elections. He won the last three elections on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket from Padrauna in Kushinagar district of UP.

Swami Prasad Maurya’s political career began with the Yuva Lok Dal in the 1980s and included a brief stint with the Janata Dal before joining the BSP in 1996. Seen as a tall OBC leader, Maurya also served as a minister in the former chief minister of UP. Mayawati’s government.

Interestingly, Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter Sanghamitra Maurya is a BJP MP from 2019.

Roshanlal Verma

Roshanlal Verma (58) is a three-time BJP MLA from Tilhar in Shahjahanpur district of UP. In the 2017 assembly elections, Verma defeated former Congress leader Jitin Prasada, who is now with the BJP.

Asked why he left the BJP, Roshanlal Verma told reporters, “This decision was not taken in a day as I joined the BJP to serve the poor, but the party did not work for farmers, Dalits and backward class people.” has been neglected.”

Brijesh Prajapati

Seen as a close confidante of Swami Prasad Maurya, Brijesh Kumar Prajapati (36) is a BJP MLA from Tindwari assembly constituency in UP’s Banda. He resigned from the primary membership of the BJP on Tuesday.

Prajapati is a law graduate, who was elected to the UP Assembly for the first time in 2017 on a BJP ticket. He has also served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Backward Commission between 2010 and 2012.

Reading: Ahead of the UP assembly elections, 2 MLAs of BJP’s ally Apna Dal (S) resigned

In a letter to party chief JP Nadda, Brijesh Kumar Prajapati has written that the “ignorance” of the UP government towards backward castes, Dalits, Muslims and small traders compelled him to take this step.

Bhagwati Sharan Sagar

BJP MLA Bhagwati Sagar (64) is a four-time MLA from Bilhaur in Kanpur Nagar district. He was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly from Bhognipur in 1993, Bilhaur in 1996 and Mauranipur in 2007.

Sagar was with the BSP before being expelled from the party in 2012. After that he decided to join BJP.

Dara Singh Chauhan

Forest, Environment and Animal Husbandry Minister Dara Singh Chauhan (59) in the UP government started his political career with the BSP in 1996.

He later joined the Samajwadi Party and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a SP candidate. Chouhan returned to the BSP ahead of the 2009 general elections and was also appointed the leader of the BSP parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha.

Dara Singh Chouhan joined the BJP in 2015 and was appointed the national president of the party’s OBC Morcha.

He contested 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election from Madhuban constituency of Mau district and won by a comfortable margin.

Mukesh Verma

Mukesh Verma (52) is a first time MLA, who was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 2017 from Shikohabad assembly constituency of Firozabad district on a BJP ticket.

Verma, a doctor by profession, belongs to the Nishad community.

Vinay Shakya

Vinay Shakya (58), a first-time BJP MLA from Bidhuna assembly constituency in Auraiya district of UP, has announced his decision to join the Samajwadi Party.

After submitting her resignation to BJP President JP Nadda, Sakya’s daughter posted a video on social media claiming that her father “Kidnapping”, The MLA later told reporters that his daughter’s claim was false.

Bala Prasad Awasthi

Bala Prasad Awasthi (71) is a three-time MLA, who contested the 2017 UP election from Dhaurahra in Lakhimpur district on a BJP ticket.

Before joining the BJP, Awasthi was a BSP MLA from the Mohammadi assembly constituency.

Avtar Singh Bhadana

BJP MLA from Meerapur Assembly Constituency in Muzaffarnagar District of UP. Avtar Singh Bhadana (64) Jayant has joined Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, which is an ally of the Samajwadi Party.

Bhadana is a Gujjar leader who joined BJP in 2016. During his time with the Congress, Avtar Singh Bhadana was elected to the Lok Sabha four times, representing Meerut in UP and Faridabad in Haryana.

Former MP and senior leader Shri Avtar Singh Badhana ji joined @rldparty Today! pic.twitter.com/XkLfOlLqI8

— Jayant Singh (@jayantrld) 12 January 2022

Dharam Singh Saini

Another minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Dharam Singh Saini (60) is a four-time MLA from Nakud in UP’s Saharanpur district.

Saini was in the BSP before joining the BJP in 2016.

Elections to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly are to begin in seven phases from February 10. With the announcement of the Election Commission on January 8, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force in five electoral states of Uttar Pradesh. , Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10.