Former Samajwadi Party stalwart Naresh Agrawal joins BJP

Pic courtesy: ANI

NEW DELHI: In a jolt to the Samajwadi party, senior leader Naresh Agrawal on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal. Agrawal was earlier the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and a Rajya Sabha member.

"I was put at par with a film actor. My ticket was given to her. I have not come (to BJP) on any condition. I do not want a ticket to Rajya Sabha," said Agrawal on joining the BJP.

Naresh Agrawal joins BJP in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal at BJP headquarters in Delhi. He was in Samajwadi Party earlier. pic.twitter.com/Xr2bS57dh2 — ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2018

Reports suggest that Agarwal was unhappy with the party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for giving the ticket to actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan in the Rajya Sabha seat.

Kiranmayee Nanda, Darshan Singh Yadav, Naresh Agarwal, Jaya Bachchan, Munawwar Saleem and Alok Tiwari are the six Rajya Sabha MPs of the Samajwadi Party who are retiring. The SP has only 47 votes and Akhilesh Yadav can only send one leader to Parliament. The remaining 9 additional votes will be given to the BSP candidate under the party coalition.

Samajwadi Party has not given Rajya Sabha ticket to Naresh Agarwal, Kiranmayi Nanda, Darshan Singh Yadav, Munawwar Saleem and Alok Tiwari. The SP has decided to send only Jaya Bachan to six of its Rajya Sabha members.