New Delhi: A seventh BJP MLA and backward caste leader Mukesh Verma quit the party today as exits continued for the third day from Uttar Pradesh’s ruling party less than a month before elections. Mukesh Verma posted his resignation on Twitter and surfaced at the home of Swami Prasad Maurya, who started the exodus.
‘Swami Prasad Maurya is our leader. We will support whatever decision he takes. Many other leaders will join us in the coming days,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh BJP core group has been working to shortlist probable candidates for the Assembly elections, especially for the seats which will go to the polls in the initial phases. Filing of nomination for the first phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh polls is set to begin from 14 January.
In the meantime, the Congress today released the first list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which will begin on February 10. The party has given substantial representation to women in the upcoming elections, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.
‘Out of the total 125 candidates, 40 per cent are women and 40 per cent are youth. With this historic initiative, we hope to bring in a new kind of politics in the State,’ she said at a virtual meeting.
In the BJP alliance, reports said Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel is asking for between 30 to 35 seats, but will likely be accomodated around 15-17 seats. This is more than what the BJP gave to Apna Dal in 2017.
Similarly, the BJP is likely to accommodate between 15 to 17 seats to Nishad Party also. Nishad Party is likely to get seats in Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Rampur Districts.