New Delhi: Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday slammed Sanghmitra Maurya by saying that he is ashamed that the Badaun MP is his daughter. “Being a daughter does not mean that her mistakes are forgiven. By crying on the stage she has behaved contrary to her father's character," Maurya said while speaking to ABP News.
The BJP MP was on Tuesday caught on camera bursting into tears while sitting on the dais during UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath's 'Prabudh Sammelan' in Badaun. Before Adityanath arrived at the stage to address the intellectuals' meet, Maurya was seen wiping tears.
The saffron party has denied ticket to Sanghmitra from Budaun Lok Sabha seat and instead fielded regional president of the 'Braj Prant', Durvijay Singh Shakya. On his daughter being denied a Lok Sabha ticket, Swami Prasad Maurya said that he is not sad over the denial of the ticket to her. He said that it had to happen. He further stated, “I told her that she should not stand with the party that wants to end reservation.”
“If people doing politics of Scheduled Castes and Tribes are standing with those who are ending their reservation, then it cannot be called good,” Maurya said. He also slammed the BJP and said that the saffron party wants to prevent talented people from moving forward.
Swami Prasad Maurya, once a minister in the BJP government, parted ways and aligned with the Samajwadi Party (SP) just before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections.
Later talking to PTI, she clarified that UP Secondary Education Minister Gulabo Devi, sitting beside her, had narrated a touching story from the Ramayana which brought tears. "I am not weak. Sanghmitra Maurya is a very brave woman -- a woman who represents half of the population," she asserted. Union minister of state B L Verma, who was seen consoling Sanghmitra Maurya on the stage, said she had not cried.
"She has worked with the people of Budaun for five years. She may be missing it. But she is working with us with full dedication in these elections. No one had to tell her anything or convince her," he added.