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Swami Prasad Maurya Quits SP

Lucknow : Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya addressing press conference at his residence in Lucknow on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. (Photo:IANS)

Maurya, in his resignation letter, said that he has resigned from the membership of the Legislative Council on moral grounds….reports Asian Lite News

Almost a week after stepping down from the position of the Samajwadi Party’s national general secretary, Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the party membership and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Tuesday.

Maurya, in his resignation letters, one addressed to the Chairman of the State Legislative Council and another to the Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, said that he has resigned from the membership of the Legislative Council on moral grounds.

“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 February 12, 2024, and the letter sent on February 13, 2024, I am also resigning from the primary membership of the Samajwadi Party.”

Both letters were shared by Maurya on his X account.

This came after Swami Prasad Maurya stepped down as national general secretary of the Samajwadi Party on February 13. Swami Prasad Maurya, in his resignation letter to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, said that he would keep working to fortify the party even in the absence of a position.

Maurya is scheduled to launch his own political outfit the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party on February 22 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi, sources said.

The rift between Akhilesh Yadav and Swami Prasad Maurya widened when the Samajwadi Party Chief said that he (Swami Prasad Maurya) had come to SP for benefits.

“Everyone comes to take benefits, but who stays on the spot? Who will tell what is on 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 Akhilesh Yadav’s “benefit” remark, Swami Prasad Maurya on Monday said, “He is not in power in the state or the centre. He is not in a condition to give anything. And I will return everything he has given to me till now. Ideology is important to me, not the position. The rights and welfare of all sections are my priority, whenever that would be attacked I would raise my voice.”

When asked about the speculation of forming a new party, Swami Prasad Maurya said, “I have left everything up to the party workers. Whatever they want would be acceptable to me.”

Samajwadi Party national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya, joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in January 2022, leaving the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of that year’s assembly elections, held between February and March has been repeatedly making headlines for his provocative comments on sensitive issues including Ramcharitmanas to Sanatan Dharma and Hindu religion.

Maurya had kicked up a controversy when he cited text from Ramcharitmanas to describe it as derogatory to women, Dalits and tribals. His comments on Sanatan Dharma had also kicked up a row. (ANI)

SP Releases Third List of Candidates for LS Polls

The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday announced its third list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, with five names.

Senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav will contest the Badaun seat while Iqra Hasan is the candidate for the Kairana seat.

The Bareilly seat candidate is Praveen Singh Aron and Ajendra Singh Rajput will contest the Hamirpur seat.

Surendra Singh Patel will be the SP candidate on the Varanasi seat.

The Samajwadi Party has also appointed in charge for Lok Sabha seats. Dharmendra Yadav is in charge of Azamgarh and Kannauj seats, Manoj Chaudhary is in charge of Baghpat seat, while Mehboob Ali and Ram Avtar Saini are in charge of Amroha seat.

Meanwhile, SP’s efforts to break the ice with former minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya and ensure his support for SP in the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections, seems to have been an exercise in futility.

Raja Bhaiya, according to sources, is in no mood to switch loyalties from BJP to SP.

Raja Bhaiya, who shared a warm rapport with late Mulayam Singh Yadav, has had a tumultuous relationship with Akhilesh Yadav.

A minister in the Akhilesh government, Raja Bhaiya had resigned in 2013 after his name figured in the murder of a DSP in his constituency. After the CBI gave him a clean chit, Mulayam Singh Yadav ensured that Raja Bhaiya was brought back into the ministry.

However, he finally snapped ties with Akhilesh when the latter allied with BSP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Raja Bhaiya’s animosity with BSP leader Mayawati is known across Uttar Pradesh. In 2002, when the BSP was in power in the state, Mayawati had jailed him under Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA).

In 2003, when Mulayam Singh came to power, all charges against Raja Bhaiya were dropped and he was made a cabinet minister in the SP government in 2005.

The 2022 assembly polls witnessed a war of words between Akhilesh and Raja Bhaiya when the SP president asked “Who Raja Bhaiya?”

On Tuesday evening, Samajwadi state president Naresh Uttam called on Raja Bhaiya to seek his support for the Rajya Sabha polls. He even persuaded Raja Bhaiya to speak to Akhilesh on phone and the latter asked him to let bygones be bygones.

Raja Bhaiya confirmed that the meeting had taken place but refused to comment further.

“The SP state president visited me but I am not in a position to say anything more than this about the meeting,” he said.

Sources close to Raja Bhaiya said that the latter would not forget the way the SP had targeted him during the 2022 assembly polls by fielding his own former acolyte, Gulshan Yadav, against him.

“Moreover, Raja Bhaiya shares a good relationship with Yogi Adityanath and will not do anything that will spoil their relations,” said a source close to the former minister.

Raja Bhaiyya heads the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik that has two members in the state assembly.

Polling for the Rajya Sabha is due on February 27 and both, BJP and SP are facing the threat of cross voting. The eighth BJP candidate Sanjay Seth is short of eight votes while the SP also needs outside support to ensure the victory of its third candidate.

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Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav dies at 82

Mulayam Singh Yadav.

According to hospital sources, he breathed his last at 8.15 a.m. on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

Veteran Samajwadi leader and MP, Mulayam Singh Yadav, died here on Monday after a prolonged illness.

His son and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted about his demise.

Mulayam Singh Yadav was 82 and had been on life support system since the past one week. He was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on August 22.

According to hospital sources, he breathed his last at 8.15 a.m. on Monday.

The 82-year-old Samajwadi Party patriarch was facing difficulty in breathing and was under the supervision of an internal medicine expert at the Medanta Hospital, as per sources. Singh was suffering from a urinary infection as well, hospital sources had said.

On Sunday, Medanta Hospital had put out a health bulletin stating that the veteran leader’s condition was quite critical and that he was on life-saving drugs.

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Samajwadi Party leads in criminal candidates in phase 3

The Samajwadi party has 21 such candidates while the BJP has 20, BSP has 18, Congress 10 and AAP 11….reports Asian Lite News

Thirty out of 58 candidates fielded by the Samajwadi Party in the third phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh are from a criminal background.

According to an analysis report released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Tuesday, 25 out of 55 candidates analysed from the BJP, 23 out of 59 candidates from BSP, 20 out of 56 candidates from the Congress and 11 out of 49 candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

The Samajwadi Party again leads when it comes to candidates with serious criminal charges. The Samajwadi party has 21 such candidates while the BJP has 20, BSP has 18, Congress 10 and AAP 11.

Eleven of these candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 11 candidates, two have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376). Two candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves and 18 have cases related to attempt to murder.

On basis of the number of criminals contesting elections, 26 out of the 59 constituencies in this phase have been declared Red Alert constituencies.

Rahul distances from campaign

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has not stepped in UP so far after two phases of voting in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. The firefighting in UP has been left to Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who is Incharge in the state.

Though Rahul Gandhi has been named star campaigner in UP elections by the party, but he is keeping safe distance as sources say that party’s prospects are not good and the Congress may not win seats as it expects. The party is contesting all the seats in the state for the first time in two decades as it is not in alliance with any political party.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has now emerged as the main campaigner for the party in the state and outside UP, however Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are scheduled to attend the Ravidas Jayanti program in Varanasi on Wednesday but there is no campaign schedule given by the party yet.

However, the Congress sources say that Rahul Gandhi will step in the state after Punjab elections and that the party has high stakes in the state where the Congress is expecting to return to power.

The Congress in 2017 fought elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party but failed miserably and could only win 7 seats and in 2019 even Rahul Gandhi lost election in the state from the home turf of Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi last visited Amethi in December 2021 and participated in a march of Pratigya Yatra along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi said, this is his home, and no one can force him to go out of here.

He first fought elections in 2004 from Amethi and won till 2014 but lost in 2019 to Smriti Irani but won from Wayanad in Kerala.

Rahul Gandhi had said: “The streets of Amethi are the same, but there is anger in the eyes of people against the government. There is still a place for me in my heart. We are still one, against injustice!”

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Akhilesh announces sops for farmers, takes pledge to defeat BJP

Yadav said that all this would be included in the Samajwadi manifesto which would be released after the BJP released its manifesto…reports Asian Lite News

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday, said that when his party comes to power, he would ensure minimum support price for all crops for farmers.

He said that he would create a farmers’ revolving fund to ensure payment of cane dues besides making adequate arrangements for ensuring free irrigation, loan, pension and insurance for them. He also said that he would withdraw all cases lodged against farmers and the families of those who had died during the agitation would be given Rs 25 lakhs each.

Yadav said that all this would be included in the Samajwadi manifesto which would be released after the BJP released its manifesto.

Farmer leader Tajinder Virk, who was among those injured in the October 3, 2021 Lakhimpur incident, administered a pledge with fistful of wheat and rice to defeat ‘those who had heaped atrocities on farmers.’

Comparing the Lakhimpur incident with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Akhilesh Yadav said that by mowing down innocent farmers, the BJP had committed an unpardonable crime.

He said that it was the unity of farmers that had forced the BJP to take back the farm laws.

The SP president further said that the BJP and its leaders had been openly violating the model code of conduct. He said that he would soon lodge a formal complaint with the Election Commission and hoped that they would take action accordingly.

Replying to a question on the failure of alliance talks with Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar, Akhilesh Yadav said that he had offered two seats but does not know why the same was turned down.

“Chandra Shekhar should know that Dr Ambedkar and Dr Lohia worked together and he should also work together in a positive spirit with us and as a brother,” he said.

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Taj city’s political ‘josh’ is high

The Samajwadi Party is buoyed up as reports suggest that the Muslim votes are not expected to split this time…reports Brij Khandelwal

As mercury dipped further to intensify the continuing cold wave, the heat generated by the election euphoria, ahead of the Assembly polls, has brought a welcome relief to the people on the streets here.

The mist shrouding announcement of lists of candidates by different political parties, has now dissipated. The field is all set and the early dissenters have either backtracked or have been offered palliatives. Agra goes to polls on February 10. Though the nomination process started on January 14, so far no papers have been filed.

Local poll observers see an intense three-cornered contest. The Bharatiya Janata Party is pitted against the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, though the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are also in the fray. For the nine Assembly seats in Agra Divison, the caste and religious formations have already been drawn with little scope for breach of past voting patterns.

The BJP, however, is hoping that a sizeable segment from each vote bank will deviate and support its candidates, because of the good performance of the Yogi Adityanath government, as can be assessed from the spectacular numbers of beneficiaries of welfare schemes.

The Samajwadi Party is buoyed up as reports suggest that the Muslim votes are not expected to split this time. In the past the fragmentation of the minority votes has helped the main party in the contest.

“Initially the BSP supremo was seen a little detached and indifferent to the state Assembly polls, causing fears that the Dalit votes could go to the main opposition party, but Bahenji was not sitting idle, but was doing her electoral homework, as is clearly evident from the candidates being fielded. The BSP will definitely put up a good show this time and prove to be the game spoiler for Akhilesh Yadav,” said experienced poll watcher Nandan Shrotriya.

BJP supporter and a river activist Dr Devashish Bhattacharya said “all the nine seats will go to the BJP with bigger margins. The ‘josh’ is high and the Hindutva Tsunami will sweep all obstacles, once the campaign picks up momentum.”

In neighbouring Mathura and Firozabad districts, the choice of candidates is helping the BJP and the groundswell of support is surprising the poll managers of the party.

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UP Dy CM calls AIMIM as SP, BSP’s B-Team

He claimed that every section of the society, including Brahmins, Dalits and OBCs, are with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh…reports Asian Lite News.

Terming Asaduddin Owaisi as the ‘B team’ of Samajwadi Party (SP), Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma alleged on Monday that the AIMIM chief is acting like an election agent for the SP and BSP.

Talking to the media after a review meeting on the functioning of BJP-ruled states at the party headquarters here, Sharma said that earlier the SP used to polarise minorities by “instigating” them, but this time they will use Owaisi for that.

Sharma further said that Owaisi is trying to polarise the society by making statements such as “who will save you after Modi, Yogi will not be there”, but the opposition parties should know that it will take years for them to challenge the BJP.

Taking a jibe at Akhilesh Yadav’s statement terming the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister as “useless”, Sharma said that the Yogi government is “useless” for the mafia, for the corrupt, for those who occupy houses and for those who insult women; but the way the government has worked for the common and the poor man, it is “useful” for them, he said.

Responding to a question on anger among the Brahmin community, Sharma said, “Brahmin is not a caste but a ritual; it is a name for the method of leading a noble life. The opposition parties have misunderstood Brahmins.”

He claimed that every section of the society, including Brahmins, Dalits and OBCs, are with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Highlighting the “achievements” of the Yogi government, Sharma said that the state, which was once known for illegal guns and ‘kattas’, is now going to produce automatic rifles and BrahMos missiles. He added that Uttar Pradesh has now become a “state for industry, not crime”.

Taking a dig at the opposition parties, Sharma said that because of Narendra Modi, some “disguised Ram devotees are practicing to ring the bell and read Hanuman Chalisa, but the people of the state are with the BJP and in 2022, the BJP is going to break its previous record”.

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Akhilesh is daydreaming, says UP Dy CM

The lotus will bloom again in the state and BJP will form the next government with a huge majority… Keshav Prasad Maurya speaks with Santosh Kumar Pathak.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has said that Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is day dreaming of coming to power in the state. He said that the BJP will again get more than 300 seats in the next Assembly polls in the state.

Here are excerpts of the interview:

You met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament House. What did you discuss with him?

I had requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, which he accepted. I had a pleasant meeting with him at his office in the Parliament House, got blessings and also some tips for the 2022 Assembly polls. Just like PM Modi again formed a government at the Centre in 2019, we will also do it in 2022.

Whether it is the poll preparations or other political programs in Varanasi, what is the message BJP is trying to give through the holy city?

Kashi is the city of Baba Vishwanath. As the PM had said, he was called by mother Ganga, the people of Kashi blessed him and chose him as their MP twice. Under his leadership, the country is progressing fast, Uttar Pradesh is also developing and Kashi too is also on the path of development. The development of Kashi should also be on religious and spiritual lines. We are proud that the grand corridor of Baba Vishwanath is ready in Kashi and the Prime Minister will dedicate this to the nation on December 13. This could be possible due to the double engine government, otherwise, the city would have fallen prey to appeasement politics.

You are claiming to form the government again in 2022, but so is the claim of Akhilesh Yadav?

Akhilesh Yadav is daydreaming. In 2017, he claimed to win more than 300 seats, but he was reduced to 47. In 2019, the ‘bua-babua’ (aunt-nephew) formed an alliance, but despite that, we won 64 Lok Sabha seats. The reality is — the return of SP, BSP or Congress is not possible in the state.

But this time Akhilesh Yadav is following the strategy of grand alliance on caste basis, as you did in 2017?

He has no answer to what he did to these castes when he came to power in 2012. If he had given importance to these people at that time, then surely they would have stood with him. Now only those leaders are going to him who have no mass base. People in the state are happy with the double engine government of Modi-Yogi and in 2022, like 2017, the BJP is going to form the government with more than 300 seats.

BSP chief Mayawati is also claiming that she will form the government.

Look, everyone is making claims, but they know the reality. Those who do not have workers left at the booth level also claim to win. Tell me, why should the public listen to her, why give her an opportunity? To gain the trust and confidence of the public, one has to work hard.

You are repeatedly talking about the double engine government, but in recent times, your statement about the leadership in UP has raised many questions.

In UP, the BJP is contesting the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and will win the elections only under his leadership. The lotus will bloom again in the state and BJP will form the next government with a huge majority.

In 2022, on which issues are you going to the public to get the mandate again?

Good governance, development, law and order, curbing corruption, 24 hours electricity, network of roads, expressway… we have so many issues. In fact, the opposition is without issue, it has no issue at all.

But the opposition parties are targeting you even on the issue of law and order.

Today the law and order of the state is fine. Goons, criminals have either been eliminated or put behind bars. Now, no one has to migrate from UP out of fear of mafia or criminals. No one can dare to cause a riot. We are number one in terms of law and order. I appeal to the people of the state to once again give blessings to the BJP to form the government in 2022 because we want to take UP to even greater heights.

Recently your tweet about Mathura was the talk of the town.

I only meant to say that the way rapid development work is being done in Ayodhya and Kashi, similar work should also be done in Mathura too.

Finally, how many seats are you expecting this time?

As of now, elections have not been announced, but let me tell you right now that you can expect the same election results in 2022 as in 2017. We will form the government again with more than 300 seats in the state.

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