Senior Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya resigned as general secretary of the party on Wednesday, and accused party chief Mayawati of selling tickets, reported ANI. The leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly said corruption has seeped deep into the party.

A prominent face of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, Maurya was also state president of the party till July 2012, before he was made general secretary. This move comes as a blow to the BSP ahead of the state Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held in early next year.

However, Mayawati refuted Maurya's allegations and claimed that he was close to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. She also said that Maurya would have been sacked from his post had he not resigned, and that he had asked for tickets for members of his family.