LUCKNOW: A close associate of BSP boss Sushree Mayawati quit the party on Wednesday in what is being seen as an immense hit to the Dalit pioneer’s dream of recapturing power in the state next year assembly elections.
Swami Prasad Maurya, the party’s backward class ambassador, declared his resignation in a swiftly met press conference where he blamed her for “selling” tickets for the assembly elections.
“I feel suffocated and can’t continue in the party any longer,” Maurya, 62, said. “Countless BSP MLAs are in contact with me and are prepared to go wherever I go.”
Mayawati, a four-time chief minister, hit back at Maurya saying he has done a “favour” by leaving the party.
Speculation was rife in the political circles that Maurya might join the Samajwadi Party and could even find a cabinet berth when chief minister Akhilesh Yadav expands his ministry on June 27 in perhaps the last reshuffle of his council of ministers before elections. A close aide of BSP chief Mayawati quit the party on Wednesday in what is being seen as a huge blow to the Dalit leader’s dreams of re capturing power in the state in next year’s assembly polls.