Cracks are developing in the Samajwadi Party-led alliance as one of its partners, Mahan Dal president Keshav Dev Maurya, announced that his party has broken its ties with Samajwadi Party.
He also accused the Samajwadi Party of negligence.
“Akhilesh Yadav does not even talk to me. He has stopped taking my calls. As now the SP does not need me, I have decided to walk out of this alliance,” Maurya told reporters here on Wednesday.
The announcement came after Samajwadi Party declared its candidates for UP Legislative Council elections in which it denied tickets to its alliance partners – Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party of Om Prakash Rajbhar and Mahan Dal.
Maurya said that Akhilesh Yadav was surrounded by sycophants and he did not need grassroots workers. “He (Akhilesh) gave Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha tickets to those parties which exerted pressure on him,” he added.
“Mahan Dal was not given due importance in seat distribution among the allies of the Samajwadi Party. Mahan Dal was given only two seats while more seats were given to Rashtriya Lok Dal and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi). As we were not given due importance, the Mahan Dal is forced to explore other options,” Maurya said.
He was also angry over Swami Prasad Maurya’s entry into Samajwadi Party. Though Swami Prasad Maurya lost the assembly election from Fazilnagar constituency in Deoria, the Mahan Dal president questioned his entry in the Samajwadi Party ahead of the UP assembly elections.
“Swami Prasad Maurya’s entry in the Samajwadi Party was a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Maurya was drafted in the Samajwadi Party at the behest of the BJP with a clear political design,” he said.
Maurya has been given a ticket by Samajwadi Party for Legislative Council election and he filed his nomination papers on Wednesday.