Naresh Agarwal, a veteran Samajwadi Party (SP) leader who serves as a Rajya Sabha MP, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.

The announcement was made at a press conference in New Delhi in the presence of Union Railways minister Piyush Goyal. Agarwal said he's influenced by PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

With new Rajya Sabha polls looming, Naresh Agarwal was denied a ticket by the Samajwadi Party. The ticket went to Jaya Bachchan instead.

Naresh Agarwal has been in the Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and once even floated his own party -the Loktantrik Congress.

Apart from that, he has also been a minister in the BJP government during Rajnath Singh's tenure as Uttar Pradesh CM.

The seven-time MLA from Hardoi constituency is known for his controversial statements. His son, Nitin Agarwal, the current MLA from Hardoi, also joined the BJP.

He began the day as a BJP member on a wrong note. Talking about how the Samajwadi Party gave away the Rajya Sabha seat to Jaya Bachchan and not him, he referred to the party veteran and former actress as a 'naachnewali' or dancer. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had to intervene and save the day. Patra said the party treated all politicians with utmost respect.

Naresh Agarwal had earlier quit the Bahujan Samaj Party after the Mayawati-led party had refused to allot an Assembly election ticket to his son.

(With inputs from Siraj Qureshi)

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