By IANS,
Lucknow : Former minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government Naresh Agarwal, who quit the Samajwadi Party May 24, joined the Bahujan Samaj Party Wednesday and has been named the party’s national general secretary.
The seven-time legislator, who formally joined the BSP at a function in the presence of Chief Minister Mayawati, was declared the BSP candidate from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat. He quit as legislator from Hardoi assembly seat, from where his son Nitin has been named candidate.
Speaking on the occasion, Agarwal called Mayawati “prime minister material” and said throughout his 25-year career he had not seen a leader who delivered on promises. “She is the only one who did,” he said.
He said he would put her on the top if a list of 10 women of substance in the country had to be drawn. He said Mayawati proved everyone wrong by her party’s performance in the 2007 elections.
Agarwal resigned from the Samajwadi Party May 24 expressing serious discontent over “party national general secretary Amar Singh bringing in an elitist culture of film stars and power brokers”.
The former minister said he had objected to the formation of the United National Progressive Alliance, which is an alliance of regional parties like Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam and Indian National Lok Dal, and advocated shaking hands with the Congress.
“That time, Amar Singh ridiculed me and threatened to leave Samajwadi Party. Now, he had no qualms over attending the UPA anniversary dinner hosted by the prime minister,” he said. This was the last straw, he added.