Uttar Pradesh: SP is a party of goons, says Swami Prasad Maurya

NEW DELHI: Former UP Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) heavyweight Swami Prasad Maurya on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party and called it a party of goons. Maurya's statement came a day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Dropped enough hints that Samajwadi Party's doors were open for him and described him as "the right person in the wrong party". "The fact that Swami Prasad Maurya was the right person in the wrong party has been amply proved," Yadav had said, a day after the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly quit BSP accusing its leader Mayawati of auctioning party tickets for the 2017 Assembly election. "Maurya is a strong leader. We have good relations. It is good that he left BSP," Yadav had said. "Where he will go, it is up to him to take a decision," Yadav had said to repeated questions on whether Maurya would join the ruling party and get a ministerial berth. Attacking the BSP chief, Maurya had on Wednesday said, "Tickets are being openly auctioned by Mayawati on a large scale. She is not making the right choice of candidates. Tickets are not only on sale in the party, they are being auctioned." The 62-year-old leader said he felt "suffocated" in the BSP and could not continue in the party any longer. Hours after his announcement, Mayawati said he was a "habitual party-hopper" and she would have expelled him within a few days for insisting on tickets not only for him but also to his son and daughter as BSP does not promote dynastic politics.