This Article is From Jan 18, 2017

Mayawati Party Man SP Maurya, Who Joined BJP, Eyes Another Move. Akhilesh Yadav Gets Call

Mayawati Party Man SP Maurya, Who Joined BJP, Eyes Another Move. Akhilesh Yadav Gets Call

SP Maurya has been in touch with Akhilesh Yadav and offered fulsome praise for the UP Chief Minister.

Lucknow: Swamy Prasad Maurya, strategically poached by the BJP from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party only six months ago in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh election, is said to be evaluating another change of party. There is speculation that the politician, who is said to command significant support from some sections of UP's Other Backward Caste or OBC voters, is unhappy with the party's selection of candidates for next month's assembly elections and could join Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party.

Mr Maurya told NDTV that he has been in touch with Akhilesh Yadav and offered fulsome praise for the 43-year-old UP Chief Minister. "I congratulated him for his victory...He is a young and dynamic leader and a very good human being. We share a very good personal relationship," Mr Maurya said, referring to Mr Yadav winning the use of the Samajwadi Party name and symbol in a feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav.

He was equally candid about his problems in the BJP. "I am struggling to get ticket for supporters from my community who moved from the BSP with me," he said, very clear that he is asking for his due share. The former BSP man is said to have demanded 35 of UP's 403 seats for him and his supporters, including a son and a daughter, to contest. The BJP, sources said, is willing to concede no more than five.

The BJP had inducted Mr Maurya last August as it sought to consolidate voters belonging to different sections and communities for the mega UP elections, being pegged as a semi-final before 2019 national election.

Mr Maurya draws his support from the Maurya, Kushwaha, Saini and Shakya communities. He was Leader of Opposition in the UP assembly before he quit the BSP, accusing Ms Mayawati of "selling assembly ticket to candidates."

Other parties are said to have approached Mr Maurya too at that time and there was talk of negotiations with the Samajwadi Party. The BJP had won, but as Mr Maurya had joined the party in Delhi he had asked it to treat his supporters well. Some had joined with him and many more would follow, he had promised.
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