Day After UP Minister Quit Team Yogi, Arrest Warrant Issued Against Him In 8-yr-old Case
An MP-MLA court in Sultanpur ordered Maurya to present himself before January 24 in a case of inciting religious hate. The case dates back to 2014 when Maurya had allegedly spoken against some Hindu Gods. He was in Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at the time.
Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and is set to exit the BJP, has now been slapped with an arrest over a hate speech he allegedly made in 2014. A warrant for his arrest has been put out in Sultanpur just a day after his resignation.
An MP-MLA court in Sultanpur ordered Maurya to present himself before January 24 in a case of inciting religious hate. The case dates back to 2014 when Maurya had allegedly spoken against some Hindu Gods. He was in Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at the time.
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What he said in 2014
"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," Maurya had said at a gathering.
An earlier warrant for his arrest was put on hold by the Allahabad High Court in 2016. Since then there have been many hearings in the case. On January 6, a Sultanpur court had asked him to appear today. When he did not, the court renewed his warrant.
May join SP soon
Speculations are rife that Swami Prasad Maurya is all set to join Samajwadi Party. He has made it clear that he would not return to the saffron party fold. "I have rejected the BJP and there is no question of going back. I have only quit as a minister. I will quit the BJP soon. For now, I am not joining the Samajwadi Party," Maurya said on Wednesday.
@SwamiPMaurya/ Twitter
In his resignation letter to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Maurya said, "I discharged my responsibilities as the minister for labour, employment, coordination in the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, despite adverse ('vipreet') circumstances and ideology."
Huge blow to BJP in UP
Meanwhile, it is being learnt that the BJP tried to convince Maurya to withdraw his resignation. Interestingly, soon after his resignation, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav shared a photo of him with Maurya on Twitter.
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ĄĒ Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 11, 2022
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Maurya, a powerful backward caste leader, has delivered a huge blow to the BJP by quitting just before the Uttar Pradesh election. He has also threatened to take more ministers and MLAs with him; five have already resigned.
The Uttar Pradesh elections 2022 will be held in seven phases -- on February 10 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The UP election results will be declared on March 10.
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