Another UP MLA quits BJP, more may follow

The exodus from the UP BJP continued with another MLA, seventh in the past two days, quitting the party.

BJP sources here said that most of those who had resigned in the past two days, including Mukesh Verma on Thursday, are loyalists of senior OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet who triggered the mass exodus.

“Most of them would have been dropped in any case,” they added, dismissing the development as “expected” and the one that “will not impact the BJP”.

Around 40 sitting MLAs are unlikely to be repeated by the BJP CEC, currently under way, to beat the anti-incumbency factor against the Yogi Adityanath government, sources say.

Meanwhile, “around 12 to 14 more, including ministers, are in line to submit their resignations”.

“It is better to resign one at a time rather than everyone together to make a better impact,” said one of them.

Apart from Swami Prasad Maurya, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar on Tuesday and Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday, others who left the saffron fold in the recent past include Sitapur MLA Rakesh Rathore, Nanpara MLA Madhuri Verma, Bilsi MLA Radha Krishan Sharma and Khalilabad MLA Digvijay Narayan Chaube

Though BJP leaders said “most of them would have been dropped by the party in any case”.

Bidhuna MLA Vinay Shakya, who rubbished claims regarding his purported kidnapping on Wednesday, said he would join the SP.

His daughter Riya Shakya had claimed her father had been kidnapped and taken to Lucknow by her uncle and grandmother.