Swami Prasad Maurya resigns from Samajwadi Party, UP legislative council
Swami Prasad Maurya Maurya resigned from his role as the party's national general secretary on February 13, citing discrimination from the leadership.
Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the party membership and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Tuesday, a week after stepping down from the position of the party's national general secretary.
Maurya shared his resignation letters, one addressed to the Chairman of the state Legislative Council and another to the Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, in an announcement to X.
“I have been elected as a member of the Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh from the Assembly, Uttar Pradesh constituency as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party. Since I have resigned from the primary membership of the Samajwadi Party, hence on the basis of morality, I am also resigning from the membership of the Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh. Please kindly accept,” he said in a letter to the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
In his letter to Akhilesh Yadav, Swami Prasad Maurya said, “Got the opportunity to work in a cordial environment under your leadership. But as a result of not taking the initiative of any kind of talks on the talks held on 12 February 2024 and the letter sent on 13.02.2024, I am also resigning from the primary membership of Samajwadi Party.”
Maurya resigned from his role as the party's national general secretary on February 13, citing discrimination from the leadership. He expressed dissatisfaction with their failure to support him regarding his controversial statements on the Ramcharitmanas and the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony.
Speculations on launching a new party
Swami Prasad Maurya is set to launch his own political party on February 22 at New Delhi's Talkatora Stadium, sources said. When asked about the speculation surrounding the formation of a new party, Maurya said, “I have left everything up to the party workers. Whatever they want would be acceptable to me.”
In his resignation letter to Akhilesh Yadav on February 13, stepping down from the post of Samajwadi Party's general secretary, Maurya affirmed his “commitment to strengthening the party even without a formal position.”
Rift with Akhilesh Yadav
The rift between Akhilesh Yadav and Swami Prasad Maurya deepened after the Samajwadi Party chief suggested that Maurya had joined the SP for ‘for benefits’.
“Everyone comes to take benefits, but who stays on the spot? Who will tell what is in someone’s mind? Not only this, Akhilesh Yadav said that there is no such machine that can know what is going on in someone’s mind. Everyone leaves after taking the benefits.” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said.
Hitting out at Samajwadi Party chief Maurya, said, “He is not in power in the state or at the centre and is not in a position to give anything. I will return everything he has given me until now. Ideology is important to me, not the position. The rights and welfare of all sections are my priority, and I will raise my voice whenever they are attacked.”
Swami Prasad Maurya, who became a member of the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in January 2022, had previously left the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the assembly elections held between February and March of that year.
Maurya stirred controversy by citing text from Ramcharitmanas, which he deemed derogatory towards women, Dalits, and tribals. Additionally, his remarks on Sanatan Dharma also sparked a controversy.
