Amid Exodus, UP BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi Dispels Resignation Rumours

BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi on Wednesday, 12 January, dispelled the rumours suggesting that he had resigned from his post.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Ravindra Nath Tripathi)

Amid an exodus from the Uttar Pradesh BJP ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, party MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi on Wednesday, 12 January, dispelled rumours suggesting that he had resigned from the party.

Alluding to a resignation letter that had been widely circulated, Bhadohi MLA Tripathi clarified that the purported letter was doctored.

"By scanning our letter pads, some members of the Opposition parties or some other kinds of people are spreading false rumours, which I deny. Bharatiya Janata Party zindabad."

MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi

The BJP leader on Wednesday filed a police complaint in the matter, citing the misuse of his letter pad.

An FIR has been lodged at the Gyanpur Police Station under section 419 (cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 66 C (identity theft), 66 D (cheating by personation by using computer resource), 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The development comes at a time when the BJP is witnessing a flurry of resignations from its Uttar Pradesh unit, with a number of prominent leaders quitting the party for greener pastures.

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday resigned from his post.

Chauhan is the second minister to exit the state government after senior minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and left his post on Tuesday. He is slated to join the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) on 14 January.

The resignation of Maurya, a prominent OBC (Other Backward Class) face of the BJP in UP, was followed by the resignation of four more BJP legislators – Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati, Vinay Shakya, and Bhagwati Sagar.