Swami Prasad Maurya Launches New Political Party After Quitting Team Akhilesh

Days after resigning from his MLC seat and severing connections with the Samajwadi Party, Swami Prasad Maurya launched his new political party, the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party (RSSP), in New Delhi on Thursday.

He slammed the BJP and said that the only intention of his party was to strengthen the INDI alliance and defeat the BJP.

Swami Prasad Maurya said, "Today there is anarchy in the entire country. Democracy is being murdered. Constitution is being fiddled with. Crores of citizens are unemployed. Inflation is rising. Farmers who were promised that income would be doubled are being attacked with rubber bullets, and tear gas shells. Traders are being harassed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It has become mandatory to ensure that the BJP is defeated. We will strengthen the INDI alliance to remove the BJP. We will talk to their leaders. To make sure that BJP is defeated, I am ready to make all sacrifices if needed."

On February 20, Mr Maurya resigned from the SP's primary membership and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and announced the formation of a new party.

He further said that today he was made the national president of this new party, so he would hold a meeting with other party officials and discuss on how many seats the party will contest.

"My only objective is to defeat BJP. If anyone from my family joins the BJP, he or she too will have to face defeat. Mallikarjun Kharge is the convenor of INDI Alliance. I will meet him soon regarding seat distribution," he added.

Interestingly, Mr Maurya's daughter Sanghamitra Maurya is a sitting BJP MP from Badaun. SP has named former Badaun MP and Mulayam's nephew Dharmendra Yadav as its candidate for the seat. BJP, however, is yet to confirm Sanghmitra's candidature for Badaun.

The rift between Akhilesh Yadav and Mr Maurya widened when the SP Chief said that he (Swami Prasad Maurya) had come to SP for benefits.

"Everyone comes to take benefits, but who stays on the spot? Who will tell what is on someone's mind? Not only this, Akhilesh Yadav said that there is no such machine that can know what is going on in someone's mind. Everyone leaves after taking the benefits." SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had said.

Mr Maurya, joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in January 2022, leaving the ruling BJP ahead of that year's assembly elections, held between February and March has been repeatedly making headlines for his provocative comments on sensitive issues including Ramcharitmanas to Sanatana Dharma and Hindu religion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)