Naresh Agarwal refutes reports of joining BJP

LUCKNOW: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal today refuted speculations about him joining BJP, alleging that the saffron party was spreading "rumours" for the fear of losing voters among the traders.

"The reports doing rounds of my joining BJP are nothing but rumours and only show the fear of BJP which is spreading them...this is an attempt to malign my image and I will go to court against it," Agarwal, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, told newspersons here.

"BJP knows that when they will come out to campaign they will not get the votes of traders and so are resorting to such rumours," he alleged.

To a question, Agarwal said he had recently met Home Minister Rajnath Singh in connection with some work of his constituency but it does not mean that he was joining BJP.

He was reacting to reports in a section of media that he might soon join the saffron party.

Agarwal said he was with party president Akhilesh Yadav and general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.

To a question on chances of party MP Beni Prasad Verma's son joining BJP after he was denied SP ticket from the constituency of his choice, Agarwal said "Beni should resign from his membership of the Upper House that would be more courageous of him...harming the party from inside will only harm him".

On the alliance with Congress, he said he had always wanted all the secular parties to come together and gain strength and this task was not possible without Congress for fighting in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"We will contest the 2019 elections under Akhilesh and he is the future prime ministerial candidate," Agarwal added.