In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP faces MLA-level anti-incumbency. What this means is that MLAs belonging to the BJP have not been able to impress citizens with their individual work. If BJP were to contest the upcoming polls with more or less the same MLAs being given tickets, its chances at forming the government in the state once again would turn shaky. It is for this reason that the BJP is looking to axe no less than 75 per cent of sitting MLAs while bringing in new faces to contest the elections.
While MLAs face anti-incumbency, chief minister Yogi Adityanath remains a state-wide sensation. The people of Uttar Pradesh love him, and once all non-performing MLAs are shown the door by the saffron party, there is no reason why the people would think twice before voting for the BJP. However, axing a vast majority of sitting MLAs and denying them tickets comes with its own set of consequences – which has manifested in the form of Swami Prasad Maurya and five other MLAs quitting chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet.
Swami Prasad Maurya and the Arrest Warrant
According to reports, a day after Swami Prasad Maurya called it quits from the BJP, a local court in Sultanpur issued an arrest warrant against him. The warrant was reportedly issued in a seven-year-old case lodged against Maurya in 2014 for allegedly making objectionable comments against Hindu gods. The MP-MLA court Judge Yogesh Kumar Yadav issued the warrant against Maurya after he failed to make an appearance before the court on Wednesday.
The judge also fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing. The former minister, after resigning from the Yogi cabinet said, “ab pat-a chalega, Swami Prasad Maurya kaun hai. Main jahan rahunga wahan sarkar banegi (now, it will be known who is Swami Prasad. Government will be formed wherever I am).”
Maurya said he and other MLAs quit the BJP owing to the Yogi government’s supposed attitude towards Dalits, backward classes, farmers, youths and traders. He also claimed that dozens of MLAs will quit in the coming days.
BJP sources, however, told Times Now that while Swami Prasad Maurya quit the Yogi government after his son was denied a ticket in the upcoming polls, Dara Singh Chauhan was slated to be axed by the party in any case.
#Breaking | #DaraSinghChauhan was losing ground on his seat, #SwamiPrasadMaurya wanted a ticket for his son: BJP sources reveal 'real reason' behind Chauhan and Maurya's exit.@RShivshankar gives more insights. | #BJPUPTwinJolt pic.twitter.com/5kEw7zUKT6
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 12, 2022
Apart from Maurya and Chauhan, four other MLAs have quit the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Roshan Lal Verma, Brajesh Kumar Prajapati, Bhagwati Sagar and Avtar Singh Bhadana have reportedly announced their exit from the party.
BJP Doing in UP What it Should Have Done in West Bengal
News of an arrest warrant being issued against Swami Prasad Maurya, meanwhile, shows how the BJP is taking no chances in UP. Let’s be frank, politics is a dirty game. If every MLA who is about to be denied a ticket by the BJP for the upcoming polls begins quitting the party, a perception will be created in the state that the BJP is losing ground. The saffron party needs to make sure it avoids such a situation, which is why news of an arrest warrant being issued against Maurya will make all such MLAs think twice before they try and pull a fast one over the BJP.
Read more: Now BJP is imploding in West Bengal. What a tragedy!
The BJP should have followed a similar strategy in Bengal as well. There were plenty of leaders with a shoddy past and tainted image who made their way into the party with hopes of getting immunity. Today, the BJP’s Bengal unit is in disarray. There are visible differences between the state and central leadership, while the local cadre has been divided by factionalism.
The BJP should have gone hard on fleers in Bengal as well. It still can. The likes of Mukul Roy, among many others, are tainted. How about giving them the chills by expediting and reopening investigations against them? In a state like West Bengal, especially where the TMC runs a near jungle raj – the BJP must not shy away from doing what best suits its interests. It cannot be dictated by a supposed moral compass in Bengal. The Uttar Pradesh strategy needs to be replicated in West Bengal as well. That is, of course, if the party is still interested in winning the state in the near future.
