A file photo of Swami Prasad Maurya with Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow in 2022
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party and the state legislative council, accusing party president Akhilesh Yadav of having "compromised" with secular principles.
Maurya, who had resigned from the post of national general secretary and announced to form his own outfit a few days back, told reporters here that he would now work to strengthen his outfit and continue to fight against the ''communal forces''.
''Akhilesh has deviated from the path of secularism.... he has compromised with secular principles unlike his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.... I hope he will realise his mistakes and choose the right path,'' Maurya said.
"Akhilesh calls himself secular but it seems he supports Manuvadi ideology,'' he added.
Maurya said that he would work toward strengthening the Opposition alliance, hinting that he might ally with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections due in April.
Maurya hailed from the electorally influential OBC community and commanded considerable support among his community members, who were in sizable numbers in more than a dozen LS constituencies, especially in the eastern and central UP districts of Kushinagar, Raebareli and some others.
Maurya, who had crossed over to the SP from the BJP in 2022, had triggered one controversy after another with his remarks defending firing on the "karsevaks: in Ayodhya during the then Mulayam Singh Yadav regime dubbing the Hindu epic 'Ram Charit Manas' as "anti-dalit" and demanding that the couplets in the epic containing anti-dalit remarks be either "withdrawn or the book be banned".
Maurya's remarks had triggered a massive backlash from the seers, one of whom even announced a cash reward for whosoever chopped the SP leader's tongue.
His remarks had also triggered unease among the SP legislators, many of whom complained to Akhilesh in this regard and urged him to restrain him.
''Maurya's family members visit temples and follow Hindu rituals but he always speaks against Hinduism,'' SP legislator Rakesh Pratap Singh had said.
Later, Maurya had shot off a letter to Akhilesh slamming senior party leaders over what he said trying to portray his remarks against ''orthodoxy, superstition'' and ''irrationality'' prevailing in a section of the society as his ''personal opinion'' and not of the SP. He said his remarks were intended to unite the Dalits and oppose the caste based discrimination in the society.