Unhappy over ticket distribution by BJP, Swami Prasad Maurya may join Samajwadi Party

NEW DELHI: Former Leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and senior Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swamy Prasad Maurya, who defected to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year, may join Samajwadi Party, sources said on Tuesday. Maurya, who is said to enjoy influence with a section of OBC voters, seems unhappy with the ticket distribution in the BJP. Accorsing to sources, Maurya demanded 14 tickets for his family and supporters from BJP for upcoming UP polls but the party denied and offered him only five tickets. Maurya, who had quit the BSP saying he felt "suffocated" and accusing party chief Mayawati of "auctioning" tickets for 2017 Assembly polls, is in touch with Samajwadi Party. The four-time MLA had earlier vowed to form a majority BJP government in the state. "People of UP are fed up with the crime under Akhilesh Yadav and the corruption of Mayawati and now want development," he had said while trying to justify his switch to the BJP. Meanwhile, efforts to form a "grand secular alliance" in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh went into top gear today with the Congress declaring that it has decided to tie up with Samajwadi Party and the shape of the formation would be announced in the next two days. "I am confident that the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh," AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters confirming about the much talked about the tie up. Azad, who is in-charge of party affairs in UP, said this was just a beginning of the alliance process and the nitty gritty would be decided in the next one or two days. Seven-phase polls for the 403 seats are taking place in UP on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8. (With inputs from agencies)