The Uttar Pradesh polls will take place in seven phases – on February 10 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The results will be declared on March 10 along with the four other poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. But many of the BJP ministers are resigning such as Dharam Singh Saini.
This minister, on Thursday, resigned from the BJP. He was a four-time legislator from Nakud in Saharanpur. He becomes the third Uttar Pradesh minister to quit BJP.
Dharam Singh Saini also became the ninth MLA to quit the saffron party, ahead of crucial state assembly polls. This was yet another blow to the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh.
Dharam Singh Saini, the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ayush, Food Security, and Drug Administration had joined the saffron party from BSP in 2016 along with Swami Prasad Maurya.
“I have resigned because for 5 years Dalits, backward classes were suppressed, their voices were suppressed… We will do whatever Swami Prasad Maurya will say. One minister and 3-4 MLAs will resign every day till Jan 20,” Saini said.
After resigning from his post, Saini has met with the Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. “I welcome him to the Samajwadi Party,” Yadav tweeted along with a picture of them meeting.
In his resignation letter, the BJP leader mentioned the callous attitude of the BJP government in the state. This behavior was especially towards farmers, Dalits, the unemployed, and those belonging to other backward classes.
Dr. Mukesh Verma was an MLA from the Shikohabad Assembly constituency here. Earlier, he resigned from the primary membership of the party. He termed the reason as ‘lack of respect’ by the government towards backward classes and Dalits.
Maurya, an influential OBC leader, had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday. Yadav shared a photo of him with Maurya on Twitter and welcomed him into the SP fold.
Informing about his decision, Maurya said in a tweet in Hindi, “Due to the attitude of gross neglect towards Dalits, backwards, farmers, unemployed youth and small and medium-sized traders, I am resigning from the council of ministers of Yogi (Adityanath) of UP.”
In his resignation letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Maurya said, “I discharged my responsibilities as the minister for labor, employment, coordination in the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, despite adverse (‘vipreet’) circumstances and ideology.”
