Lone pal deserts Agrawal, joins SP

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, AUG. 16. Mr. Vikramajit Maurya, the Loktantrik Congress Party MLA who was the last to part company with the dismissed U.P. Minister for Energy, Mr. Naresh Agrawal, today formally joined the Samajwadi Party. Earlier Mr. Maurya resigned as Minister of State for Energy and his resignation was accepted by the Governor, Mr. Vishnu Kant Shastri.

Talking to newspersons at his party office here, the Samajwadi Party leader, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, said a former Minister, Mr. Kabul Singh, and former BJP MLC, Mr. Banwarilal Kanchchal, had also been admitted to the SP along with Mr. Maurya. He said the incident should make it clear that the people in the State were disenchanted with the BJP. On the other hand, he added, the prestige of his own party had tremendously increased.

Mr. Maurya had been working as the virtual spokesperson of Mr. Agrawal all through his tenure as Minister. Whenever Mr. Agrawal came under criticism or his Department received flak, Mr. Maurya took it upon himself to defend him. Even after the dismissal of Mr. Agrawal, he expressed his unequivocal loyalty while all other LCP colleagues left Mr. Agrawal one by one. With Mr. Maurya joining the Samajwadi Party, Mr. Agrawal has been left alone. Immediately after his dismissal, he had claimed that there were six LCP MLAs still with him.

As for Mr. Banwarilal Kanchchal, he had been feeling sidelined in the BJP for quite some time. Local BJP leaders felt that he was over-ambitious and the party found it difficult to please him.

The Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, meanwhile, confirmed that Mr. Maurya had met him on Wednesday and handed over his resignation. He, however, felt that the decision of Mr. Maurya and Mr. Kanchchal to join the Samajwadi Party would have no impact on the BJP.

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Section  : National
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