Nagpur: Seventh BJP MLA and backward caste leader Mukesh Verma has become the latest MLA to quit the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) today. The exits have continued for the third day today, just a month ahead of UP polls.
Verma took to twitter and posted his resignation and surfaced at the home of Ex-minister Swami Prasad Maurya. In the last three days, four MLAs have quit the saffron party. In the resignation letter, Verma said that the party had been neglecting the backward classes in the state. He also mentioned how Maurya is their leader and ‘the voice of oppressed.’
In the letter he said, “The BJP government in the past five years did not pay any attention to Dalits, backward castes and minorities and disrespected people’s representatives.”
Few hours after Maurya resigned, an arrest warrant was issued against the former minister over a hate speech he allegedly made in 2014. The warrant of arrest was put out in Sultanpur just a day after his resignation.
In an interview, when asked about his political future, he said, “All will be revealed on January 14.” He further added that his move has caused a ‘bhuchaal’ (earthquake) in the BJP.
Maurya, in his resignation letter claimed that he is resigning from the party due to Yogi-led government’s ‘negligence’ towards Dalits, farmers, small and medium scale businesses and unemployed youths in the state. After his resignation, three other BJP MLAs in the state followed and quit the party. Tilhar MLA Roshan Lal Verma, Bilhaur MLA Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Tindwari MLA Brajesh Prajapati, resigned from the Saffron party on Tuesday.
NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar announced that in Uttar Pradesh they (NCP) will be contesting elections along with Samajwadi Party and other smaller parties. The NCP supremo also mentioned that the party is in talks with the Congress and Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress for a possible alliance in Goa.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced election schedules for five poll bound states – Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 7 onwards.
