Maurya, who recently joined the SP, would be up against the ruling party's (BJP) Surendra Kushwaha, the son of the incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha.
Former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who newly joined the Samajwadi Party (SP), will contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Kushinagar's Fazilnagar seat, instead of his stronghold of Padrauna. The SP leader is the sitting MLA from Padrauna and has held a seat since 2007 for consecutive four terms overall.
On Wednesday, the Samajwadi Party released its list of the fresh candidates, comprising three names. The party has fielded Abhishek Mishra from Lucknow's Sarojini Nagar seat and Pallavi Patel from Sirathu in Kaushambi.
After SP named Maurya to its list of candidates, the former state labor minister posted an emotional farewell message on his Twitter page.
He penned: "Thank you Padrauna for your love, affection, and blessings. Your love and admiration will always be with me." (roughly translated from Hindi)
``पडरौना वासियों के प्यार स्नेह व आशीर्वाद के लिए बहुत-बहुत बधाई।
आप सब का सम्मान एवं स्थान सदैव मेरे दिल में था, दिल में है, दिल में रहेगा।``
Union Minister Anurag Thakur reacted to the SP list, including Maurya's name; he said the fear of defeat makes a lot of people get rid of their seats. Rahul Gandhi ran away from Lok Sabha, Amethi. Akhilesh Yadav left his seat; now Swami Prasad Maurya is running away.
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Maurya, who recently joined the SP, will be up against the ruling party's (BJP) Surendra Kushwaha, the son of the incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Pallavi Patel is, the elder sister of the Union Minister, and BJP ally Anupriya Patel will face the deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. Meanwhile, Abhishek Mishra will challenge the former Enforcement Directorate joint director Rajeshwar Singh, who recently joined Bharatiya Janata Party.
Swami Prasad Maurya, the candidate from Padrauna, was widely expected to face former Union minister RPN Singh, who left the Congress on January 25 and joined the BJP the same day. Singh defeated Maurya from the Kushinagar parliamentary seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases beginning February 10, with the results being announced on March 10. Rounds 2-7 will be polled on February 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7.