New Delhi, Aug 8: Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Swamy Prasad Maurya on Monday joined the BJP in the presence of party national president Amit Shah here.

He was welcomed in the party by Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Om Mathur, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Uttar Pradesh, state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, senior leaders Rameshwar Chaurasia and Shrikant Sharma, and others.

“His joining BJP would help us in countering the corrupt rule of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP,” Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

The BJP state chief asserted that there will be no corrupt rule in the state and the party will come to power in 2017.

Swamy Prasad Maurya thanked the BJP leadership and said that several other colleagues will also join the BJP in Lucknow, including former minister Vinay Shakya.

Swamy Prasad Maurya, who was Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, quit the BSP on June 22. He had accused Mayawati of “selling” party tickets and giving up the principles and ideology of party founder Kanshi Ram.