Partyhopper Naresh plans grand b’day bash to show his Samajwadi clout

According to Agarwal,the SP expects early Lok Sabha polls. “We expect that polls can be held any time in 2013 and so we are preparing ourselves,” he added. Mulayam had spoken about early polls during the national executive meet in Kolkata this week.

For Agarwal,this will also be an opportunity to show his strength to impress the SP leadership. He had hoped that son Nitin,who is an MLA,would be inducted in the ministry,but Akhilesh kept him out. Asked about it,he said, “I am not interested in these issues. It is the CM’s prerogative.”

Hardoi is considered Agarwal’s stronghold and the SP had won six of the eight Assembly seats this year. The Lok Sabha seat is also represented by SP’s Usha Verma. But the defeat of Ashok Bajpayee,a close associate of Mulayam,in Sawaijpur Assembly constituency weighs against Agarwal.

Agarwal has also been a partyhopper. He started his career with the Congress,joined the Kalyan Singh-led BJP government by forming the Loktantrik Congress. He was also with Jagdambika Pal when he became CM for a day in 1998. Thereafter,he joined SP and became a minister,but switched sides in 2008 to join the BSP. Just before the Assembly polls,he returned to the SP.

Soon after SP got majority,Agarwal visited Vikramaditya Marg to meet then CM-designate Akhilesh only to be turned back on the ground that he had no prior appointment. Later,his son Nitin did not find a place in the ministry. Now,he is using his birthday to rehabilitate himself in the party.