BSP member joins SP

Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP supremo Mayawati suffered a setback when senior BSP leader and party’s Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agarwal on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party along with his son and BSP MLA Nitin Agarwal.

Naresh Agarwal announced while joining the SP that he had resigned from the membership of the Rajya Sabha. Agarwal had been sulking for some time after his son Nitin was denied re-nomination by the BSP. Agarwal, who was a minister in previous Mulayam Singh Yadav regime, had joined the BSP two years back and was promptly made a Rajya Sabha member. His son Nitin was given a BSP ticket in the by-poll from Hardoi, the seat vacated by Agarwal. The BSP on the other hand said it had expelled Agarwal and his son for ‘anti-party activities’.