Former SP MPs Surendra Singh Nagar, Sanjay Seth join BJP

Days after resigning from Samajwadi Party (SP) and from the Rajya Sabha, Surendra Singh Nagar and Sanjay Seth on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Both the senior leaders were inducted in the saffron camp here at the BJP headquarters by General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav in the presence of other party leaders Anil Baluni, Neeraj Shekhar and Naresh Agrawal, etc.

Shekhar joined the BJP recently after resigning from Rajya Sabha as well as the SP. Agrawal left the SP ahead of the 2019 General Election.

Welcoming Nagar and Seth in the party, Yadav accused the SP of putting the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohiya and his principles of social justice into the back burner.

"They have expressed their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. They were also impressed by the government's policy of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas aur sabka vishwas'," he said.

Nagar and Seth too hailed the Prime Minister and Home Minister's organisational skills and said abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was a historic decision.

While Seth stepped down on August 2, Nagar resigned from SP as well as the Rajya Sabha on August 5.

The resignation of the two leaders from the Samajwadi Party has come as another major blow to the party's strength in the Rajya Sabha which has come down to 10.

Seth was a trusted lieutenant of SP patriarch Mulayam Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav. He was national treasurer of the party while Nagar is an influential Gujjar leader in western UP.