Swami Prasad Maurya quits Samajwadi Party to announce his own party on February 22

Maurya resigned as the party's national secretary general on February 13, accusing the leadership of discriminating against him.

Swami Prasad Maurya resigned as National General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday. File photo (ANI)

Lucknow: A week after resigning as national secretary of the Samajwadi Party, Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the party's primary membership and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and announced the formation of a new party.

Maurya resigned as the party's national general secretary on February 13, accusing the leadership of discriminating against him and not defending him over his controversial statements on the Ramcharitmanas and the Ayodhya temple dedication ceremony.

Maurya said he will form a new party and announce it in New Delhi on Thursday.

'I had the opportunity to work with you. But after our talks on February 12 and my resignation (as National General Secretary) on February 13, no initiative has been taken for talks with me, due to which I am resigning as a senior member of the party,” Maurya said in a letter to party chief Akhilesh Yadav .

He also shared the letter on his social media accounts.

In a separate letter to the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, Maurya said: “I was elected as a member of the Samajwadi Party in the Legislative Council. Since I have resigned from the primary membership of the party, I am also resigning as MLC (Member of Legislative Council) on the basis of morality.”

He said: “Every time someone tried to attack the ideology, I did not delay in leaving my post. It has been decided that I will announce the new party at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on February 22 and seek the views of the workers and formulate a future strategy.”

When asked whether he would join the INDIA bloc or the NDA, he did not give a direct answer but said that in the current scenario, the INDIA bloc is the need of the hour. Maurya also questioned the distribution of SP tickets for Rajya Sabha polls, scheduled to be held on February 27, for which the party has fielded Ramjilal Suman, Jaya Bachchan and Alok Ranjan, saying that the party has extended its own call for support to the “PDA” did not follow. .

PDA is the acronym given by SP chief Yadav to refer to 'Picchde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak.' He also said that until SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav is present in the party, the party has a murky future. He even questioned the secular nature of the party and said the party was holding a “Shaligram puja” in its office. “Even the BJP never performed puja in its office. But the SP did that in her office,” he said.