I am with Swami Prasad Maurya, will join SP: Rebel BJP MLA refutes daughter's 'kidnapping' claims

Lucknow, Jan 12: Rebel BJP MLA Vinay Shakya on Wednesday, refuted his daughter's claim of being 'forcibly taken away,' and said that he will join the Samajwadi Party.

Vinay Shakya said that he was with Swami Prasad Maurya who joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday.

Amid reports that Shakya too is to join the Samajwadi Party like three other party MLAs after the resignation by UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, the Bidhuna MLA's daughter Riya on Tuesday alleged that her father has become untraceable after her uncle Devesh Shakya and grandmother took him to Lucknow.

Riya raised the alarm on a viral video while also demanding from the Uttar Pradesh government to trace her father.

In the video, Riya is heard saying that her father cannot talk clearly after suffering a brain stroke in 2018 and his whereabouts or condition are not known after he was taken away.

"On May 1, 2018, my father had a brain stroke and he was admitted to the SGPGI in Lucknow. He cannot talk clearly and after the operation, his condition has not been good," she said.

"We are working for the BJP in the area as elections are near. I demand from the government to find out my father and our family members should be given a chance to meet him," she added in the video.

Maurya, who joined the BJP from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), resigned from his post on Tuesday, accusing chief minister Yogi Adityanath's government of neglecting Dalits, backward classes, farmers, unemployed youth and small-medium sized traders.