Shock to the political ambitions of Swamiprasad Maurya

Lucknow. The Samajwadi Party on Monday announced the names of 159 more candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The most important thing about the list of candidates released by the SP is that the son of Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party, has not been given a ticket from the SP. Swami was lobbying for ticket for his son Utkrisht Maurya from Unchahar seat of Rae Bareli, but here Akhilesh has given ticket to MLA Manoj Pandey. This is being considered a setback to the political ambitions of Swami Prasad.

Recently, when Swami Prasad Maurya, considered a leader of the backward classes, resigned from the Yogi cabinet and took a bicycle ride, there was a stir in the politics of UP. Swami Prasad Maurya had accused the BJP of being backward and neglecting Dalits, but behind the sudden change of side, he had some other political ambition. After leaving the party, the same reaction came from BJP that he was asking for a ticket for his son.

After coming to the SP, there was talk of Swami Prasad Maurya himself getting the political debut of son Utkrisht Maurya from Unchahar seat, but it was not easy even in SP. Manoj Pandey has won the election from the SP from the seat from where Swami Prasad was defending his son. So his path was not easy. Manoj Pandey has also been considered close to Akhilesh. Cutting his ticket was not right for Brahmin voters in a way. Perhaps this is the reason why Akhilesh did not consider it appropriate to take the risk by cutting the ticket on this seat.

The caste mathematics of Unchahar seat, located about 40 km from Rae Bareli, is also of great importance. Dalit voters are maximum in this seat. There is also a good number of OBC voters including Yadav, Maurya, Brahmin, Rajput, Muslim, SC, Lodh, Kurmi. In 2017, the BJP had given ticket to Swami Prasad Maurya’s son Utkrisht Maurya, but he lost to SP’s Manoj Pandey. Manoj Pandey’s hold in this area is considered strong among other castes along with Pandit voters. This is the reason why Akhilesh has reposed faith in him.
Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter Sanghamitra Maurya is a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Badaun. Sanghamitra Maurya is still in the BJP even after his father left the BJP and went to the SP. The reason for leaving the party was also told that Swami Prasad’s son did not get a BJP ticket. When he joined SP, it was believed that Akhilesh would accept his demand and cut Manoj Pandey’s ticket. At present, the leaf of Swami Prasad Maurya’s son has been cut from Unchahar seat. There is a discussion that SP can field his son from somewhere else.