The parting of company by Swami Prasad Maurya with Mayawati has prompted the Samajwadi Party and the BJP to invite him to their respective camps as the senior Dalit leader continued to bargain" a deal" and kept both the sides guessing.
Maurya , who has been in contact with the BJP and the SP after quitting the BSP , landed here on Friday to meet BJP leaders. BJP President Amit Shah is reportedly keen that the Dalit leader enters the BJP camp to strengthen its backward vote bank.
BJP strategist trust that netting Maurya, will be a big booster for the party and complete winning circle of social engineering with dalit-OBC and upper caste the non-yadav OBC votes in the state.
The dalit leader once a close confidante of Mayawati has apparently sought BJP to have him projected as Chief Ministerial candidate in the poll bound Uttar Pradesh as SP is trying to lure him away with a cabinet portfolio in the state Government.
Maurya met senior SP leaders, including Shivpal Yadav, in lucnow to weigh in all permutations and combinations, leading to speculation.
Chief Minister and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, said, "Swami is a strong leader and I have known him for a long time. He is the right person but was in a wrong party."
Swami Prasad Maurya, on his part, however, downplayed his meeting with Shivpal Yadav Saying , "You meet several people on your way, but do you attribute motive to every meetingIJ After my press conference, I ran into Shivpal Yadav and we talked. It was a normal meeting and had nothing to do with me joining Samajwadi Party".
According to sources, SP may have worked its ground better to rope in "the prized catch".