MP Naresh Agarwal on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The BSP, meanwhile, expelled Mr Naresh Agarwal and his son Nitin Agarwal from the party for anti-party activities, two hours after the father-son duo had joined the Samajwadi Party. Ms Rajeshwari Devi, BSP MLA from Hariyawa seat, also joined SP along with Mr Naresh Agarwal.
Mr Agarwal, a Rajya Sabha MP, had met Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav in Delhi on Thursday. The meeting paved the way for his return to the Samajwadi Party which he had quit in May 2008 following differences with the then SP leader Amar Singh.
Mr Agarwal joined the BSP in 2008 and was made national general secretary. He was also given a Rajya Sabha berth in a bypoll in 2010 after he unsuccessfully contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Farukkhabad.
Mr Agarwal thereafter resigned from his Assembly seat and his son, Nitin Agarwal, was elected on a BSP ticket from the same Hardoi Sadar seat.
However, a week ago, the BSP denied ticket to Nitin Agarwal and other supporters of Naresh Agarwal and this worked as a catalyst for his exit from the BSP.
Mr Agarwal also announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha also even though his term expires in April 2012.
The Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, celebrated the return of Naresh Agarwal on Friday with much fanfare and thousands of supporters thronged the party’s state headquarters on Friday.
Welcoming his back into the party fold, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav said that this would further strengthen his party which was now poised to form the next government.
Later, talking to reporters, Mr Agarwal said that he had been freed from political captivity after four years. He said that he had been feeling stifled in the BSP and was happy to return to the Samajwadi Party.