Swami Prasad Maurya, former minister of Uttar Pradesh and calling himself a leader of non-Yadav backward community, now wants to take forward relations with Congress. Swami Prasad Maurya, who has sometimes proved to be a headache for Bahujan Samaj Party, sometimes BJP and sometimes SP, has also met Rahul Gandhi. He has announced that 'Apni Janata Party' will go into electoral alliance with Congress.
Swami Prasad Maurya, coming out of the streets of UP, has now reached 10 Janpath. After meeting Rahul Gandhi, he told journalists that the election strategy and how many seats his party will contest will be decided later. According to him, his aim will be to remove BJP and save the country.
Swami Prasad Maurya has said that his party will raise issues related to Scheduled Castes, Tribes, Minorities and Other Backward Classes and will work together with the India Alliance. Swami Prasad Maurya has a history of increasing the political problems of the party he is with. His alliance was neither with BSP, nor with SP, nor with BJP. Now he is increasing friendship with Congress.
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Can Swami Prasad prove to be a headache for Congress?
Swami Prasad Maurya has remained a vocal critic of Hindu society even during his stay in Bahujan Samaj Party. Have been raising questions on Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Most of his political life is to say derogatory things about 'Ramcharitmanas'. He has also raised questions on Gauri-Ganesh worship in weddings. In January 2023, he claimed that in some quatrains of Ramcharitmanas, derogatory language was used towards Dalits, backward people and women. Regarding this, he talked about banning Ram Charit Manas.
Supporters of Swami Prasad Maurya burnt Ramcharitmanas. FIR has been registered against him at many places. He always remains in the role of critic regarding Hinduism, Brahmanism and religious rituals. A large section of saints and Hindus remain angry with his statements.
In 2023, he had joined Samajwadi Party, due to which Akhilesh Yadav's political problems increased, people asked so many questions to Samajwadi Party that he himself became uncomfortable. Assembly elections are going to be held in the year 2027. Congress is emphasizing on every caste and religious equation, from Brahmin to minority. A large section may be angry with the coming together of Swami Prasad Maurya.
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Swami Prasad becomes enemy as soon as friendship breaks
Swami Prasad Maurya was the leader of the opposition from 2012 to 2016. In 2016, he distanced himself from Mayawati by accusing her of selling tickets. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the year 2017, BJP formed the government in Uttar Pradesh with an overwhelming majority. Swami Prasad Maurya got a share in Yogi cabinet.
Just before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he resigned, accusing the BJP government of neglecting the backward people and Dalits. Joined Samajwadi Party. Swami Prasad Maurya claimed that he is a mongoose and will crush the hood of Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
On January 13, 2022, he wrote, 'RSS in the form of a snake and BJP in the form of a snake have got the mongoose in the form of Swami U.P. Will die only after finishing it.
The party leadership distanced itself from his controversial statements during his stay in the Samajwadi Party. In February 2024, he resigned from the post of National General Secretary and MLC of SP citing discrimination. He formed his new party 'Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party'.
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Is Swami Prasad Maurya not related to anyone?
Swami Prasad Maurya has a long association with OBC politics. He was once considered close to Mayawati and has held important portfolios in the Bahujan Samaj Party government. A few months before the 2017 assembly elections, he left BSP and joined BJP.
He was the Labor Minister in the first term of Yogi Adityanath government. He left BJP before the 2022 assembly elections. He had alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is ignoring Dalits, OBCs and farmers. After this he went to Samajwadi Party. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he also left the Samajwadi Party and formed his own Janata Party.
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How will this alliance happen?
SP is also included in the INDIA alliance. Swami Prasad Maurya's party will now be part of the same alliance whose strongest party is the Samajwadi Party. Political analysts believe that the arrival of Swami Prasad Maurya could help the INDIA alliance reach out to non-Yadav OBC voters.
What is the political base of Swami Prasad Maurya?
It has been the political base of Swami Prasad Maurya. Parties in Uttar Pradesh are preparing to garner the support of non-Yadav OBC communities. He himself comes from Maurya-Kushwaha community. His political acceptance has never been on a large scale. At the local level, he has been getting support from Maurya, Kushwaha, Shakya and Saini castes.
Swami Prasad Maurya's political base has not extended beyond Padrauna, Rae Bareli and Kushinagar areas. He has been in Bahujan Samaj Party for a long time, he does Bahujan politics. These days he is advocating social justice and the rights of Dalits and backward classes. He is trying to re-establish himself in the 2027 assembly elections. He has not tasted any political success since 2022.