Arrest Warrant Issued Against SP Maurya, Who Quit Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet

New Delhi: Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and is set to exit the BJP, now faces arrest over a hate speech he allegedly made in 2014. A warrant for his arrest has been put out in Sultanpur, a day after his resignation.

Mr Maurya had been asked to appear before the court in the case today but he did not show up. He has now been asked to appear before a court on January 24 in a case of inciting religious hate. He was in Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at the time.

“Goddess Gauri or Lord Ganesha should not be worshipped during weddings. It is a conspiracy by upper caste-dominated system to mislead and enslave Dalits and backward castes,” Mr Maurya had said at a gathering.

Just before the Uttar Pradesh elections Senior leader Swami Prasad Maurya yesterday quit as minister and joined the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav. This move from Swami Prasad Maurya has taken a toll over BJP’s Yogi Adityanath and Congress for the upcoming elections. In a major setback for the BJP weeks ahead of the state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a key minister along with three MLAs has quit the party.

Mr Maurya, a veteran politician and five-term MLA, had quit the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2016, accusing the party of running a “money for ticket” syndicate. Ms Mayawati had denied the allegations. Mr Maurya then formed his own organisation called Loktantrik Bahujan Manch and was appointed a cabinet minister in Yogi Adityanath’s government in 2017.

Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter Sanghmitra Maurya is a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun. Mr Maurya is a powerful OBC (Other Backward Class) leader representing the Padrauna constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh. In a warning to the BJP, he told reporters, “What impact my exit will have on the BJP will be obvious after the 2022 assembly election.”