2nd Jolt to Yogi in 2 Days: Another minister deserts Adityanath

Lucknow: In another jolt to the ruling BJP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan resigned from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet on Wednesday and appeared to be headed towards the Samajwadi Party.

A day earlier – as BJP leaders brainstormed in Delhi on the UP Assembly polls – State Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit. Three other BJP MLAs also announced their resignation from the party on Tuesday.

Though Maurya, a prominent OBC leader, has not made it clear that he is joining the Samajwadi Party, the SP has tweeted a welcome message. The recent developments appear to strengthen the SP's influence among the non-Yadav OBCs in the State, less than a month before the crucial elections that will also have an impact on the 2024 parliamentary polls.

Chauhan said he had worked with dedication for the past five years but Dalits, the OBCs and the unemployed did not get justice from the BJP government. 'It was the poor who had made the government, but others took all the advantage in the past five years," he said, after sending the resignation letter to Governor Anandiben Patel.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, however, welcomed Dara Singh Chauhan into the party-fold. "Hearty welcome and greetings to Dara Singh Chauhan ji, the relentless fighter of the struggle for social justice. The SP and its allies will unite and take the movement of equality to its height... eliminate discrimination! It is our collective resolve! Respect everyone -- space for everyone," Yadav tweeted in Hindi.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya urged Chauhan to think again. "It hurts if any member of the family strays. I would only urge the respected gentlemen that it would be their loss only if they board a sinking boat. Elder brother Dara Singh ji, please reconsider your decision," he tweeted in Hindi.

On Tuesday, he had made a similar appeal to Swami Prasad Maurya. In the resignation letter, Chauhan said, "I have worked with full diligence for the betterment of my departments." "But troubled by the complete neglect of the backwards, the deprived, Dalits, farmers and unemployed youth, besides the messing up of the reservation facility for Dalits and the backwards, I am tendering my resignation from the cabinet," the letter added.