Swami Prasad Maurya vows to form a majority BJP government in UP

Former Leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and senior Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Swamy Prasad Maurya, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, vowed on Wednesday to form a majority BJP government in the state.

"People of UP are fed up with the crime under Akhilesh Yadav and the corruption of Mayawati and now want development," he said while trying to justify his switch to the BJP, once a sworn enemy for him when he was with Mayawati.

Swamy said that he had joined the BJP after being impressed by the pro-development policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the organisational skills of party president Amit Shah.

He once again accused the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, of being neck deep in graft and said that she was always happy when there were atrocities on Dalits.

"On more than one occasion I sought her permission to go to places where Dalits had been tortured and she asked me not to as aggravation of the issue would consolidate her vote bank," he claimed.

He also tried to set aside rumours that the state BJP leadership was not happy at his induction and said that together they would now take the BJP to victory in the state assembly elections slated for early 2017.

After joining BJP in New Delhi, Swamy arrived in the Uttar Pradesh capital to a rousing welcome on Wednesday and drove from the airport to the state BJP headquarters, accompanied by BJP leaders, including the state president Keshav Prasad Maurya.

--IANS

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