Lucknow: UP Minister and OBC leader Dharam Singh Saini on Thursday resigned from the BJP, the third minister to leave the Yogi Adityanath government in three days and less than a month before Assembly polls in the state.
Saini was the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ayush, Food Security and Drug Administration.
He is the ninth BJP legislator to leave the party in UP over the last three days and the third to do so on Thursday.
Two more BJP MLAs quit the saffron party in UP on Thursday before Saini.
OBC leader Mukesh Verma, BJP MLA from Shikohabad Assembly constituency in Firozabad in western UP, also resigned from the party.
Hours after Verma, another BJP MLA Vinay Shakya also resigned.
‘सामाजिक न्याय’ के एक और योद्धा डॉ. धर्म सिंह सैनी जी के आने से, सबका मेल-मिलाप-मिलन करानेवाली हमारी ‘सकारात्मक और प्रगतिशील राजनीति’ को और भी उत्साह व बल मिला है। सपा में उनका ससम्मान हार्दिक स्वागत एवं अभिनंदन!
बाइस में समावेशी-सौहार्द की जीत निश्चित है! #मेला_होबे pic.twitter.com/2FDkLLNW93
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 13, 2022
After tweeting his resignation, Verma surfaced at the home of Swami Prasad Maurya, also an OBC leader who started the series of resignations.
In his resignation letter, Verma alleged neglect of Dalits, backward castes, minorities and other sections by the BJP in the state. He said that he will continue the “fight for justice” under Maurya.
Like Verma, Shakya too said that Maurya was their leader. “Swami Prasad Maurya is the voice of the downtrodden and he is our leader. I am with him,” Shakya wrote in his resignation letter.
Others who have quit the BJP over the last three days are Avtar Singh Bhadana, Brijesh Kumar Prajapati, Roshan Lal Varma, Bhagwati Sagar and Vinay Shakya.
Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases to elect 403 MLAs from February 10 to March 7.
