Naresh Agrawal Joins BJP After Being Denied Rajya Sabha Ticket by Samajwadi Party
Agrawal's move comes days after the Samajwadi Party decided to name veteran Bollywood actress and parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
New Delhi, March 12: In a major setback to the Samajwadi Party (SP), its senior leader Naresh Agrawal on Monday joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Agrawal joined the party in presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal at BJP headquarters in Delhi. To recall, Agrawal was earlier the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and a Rajya Sabha member. Agrawal's move comes days after the Samajwadi Party decided to name veteran Bollywood actress and parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
If reports were to be believed, 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. “Films mein kaam karne wali se meri hesiyat kardi gayi, unke naam par humara ticket kataa gaya, maine isko bhi bahut utchit nahi samjha. Meri koi shart par nahi aya, koi Rajya Sabka ki ticket ki maang nahi hai”, Naresh Agrawal said on joining BJP.
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 party did not give the Rajya Sabha ticket to Naresh Agarwal and the others but decided to send only Jaya Bachchan to six of its Rajya Sabha members.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2018 05:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).