BSP MP Malook Nagar quits party, joins Rashtriya Lok Dal ahead of Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi [India], April 11 (ANI): Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Malook Nagar joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in the presence of party chief Jayant Chaudhary in Delhi on Thursday.
Nagar left the BSP reportedly after he was denied the ticket in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"When I became an MP, the RLD, Samajwadi Party and BSP played a huge role. Jayant played a significant role as well. He held big meetings in five different Vidhan Sabhas in my Lok Sabha constituency. That is why there were hoardings of all three parties in West Uttar Pradesh. After winning as an MP, no one saw my hoarding because the parties became separate Malook Nagar became the MP from three of the parties," Nagar said after joining the RLD.
Nagar had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on BSP ticket. The BSP was then in alliance with the RLD and the Samajwadi Party.
"I always raised many issues in Parliament, rising above party and politics, about the work done by the government and also criticised openly any shortcomings of the ruling party," he added.
Welcoming Nagar into his party, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary said that his party's campaign will get new strength with the former BSP leader joining the RLD.
"The Rashtriya Lok Dal will get new strength and will help in our immediate 2024 campaign and the NDA. I welcome him by tying the green thread, which is a symbol of our connection with farmers," Chaudhury said.
Speaking about the manifesto by the Samajwadi party, Choudhury said that it is important to know why people are staying backward and try to bring them into the mainstream of national politics.
"It is not wrong to talk about minority communities. It is important to know about minorities, why they are backward. We should try to bring them into the mainstream. Recently, I have written to all my MLAs that a total of 51 per cent of the MLA fund should be spent on minorities and scheduled tribes...Our is the first party that has told its MPs to do so. This shows our ideology," said the RJD.
Choudhury said that he is on his way to campaign for BJP candidate Hema Malini. "The world is round. In 2009, she had campaigned for me. And today, I will be campaigning for her."
Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases. (ANI)