UP Dy Speaker quits post, SP

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh assembly Deputy Speaker Nitin Agarwal, a Samajwadi Party MLA who had been elected to the post with the BJP support, on Wednesday quit his post and resigned from the party.

The SP MLA from Hardoi Sadar assembly seat said he has also quit as the MLA and deputy speaker of the House. "I have sent my resignation from the SP to its national president Akhilesh Yadav. I have also resigned from the assembly membership and the post of its deputy speaker," Nitin Agarwal told reporters here.

Agarwal, who was elected as the assembly's deputy speaker with the BJP support, had not formally joined the party and technically was still an SP MLA.

Agarwal, who earlier shared the dais with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the BJP's Jan Vishwas rally, is likely to contest the assembly polls from his Hardoi Sadar seat on a BJP ticket.

Political observers say his resignation is a mere formality as he was already supporting the BJP.