Backed by BJP, Nitin Agarwal all set to be elected UP Assembly Dy Speaker
   Date :18-Oct-2021

Nitin Agarwal _1 &nb
 Nitin Agarwal (L) files his nomination for the post of Deputy Speaker for UP Assembly, in presence of Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on Sunday. (PTI)
 
 
LUCKNOW :
 
NITIN Agarwal, who was elected as a legislator on the Samajwadi Party ticket but then cozied up to the ruling BJP, is all set to be the Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with the support of the BJP. A miffed Samajwadi Party, which has fielded Narendra Verma as its official candidate for the contest that is taking place just months ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls, hit out at the BJP, accusing it of trying to sabotage democracy, and asserted that the post should traditionally go to the Opposition party. After the election on Monday, Uttar Pradesh will get its first Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly after a gap of over 14 years.
 
In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 304 seats in the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly and its majority in the House will ensure Agarwal’s victory. According to sources, Samajwadi Party had moved the Speaker seeking disqualification of Nitin Agarwal from the Assembly 5-6 months and around 15-20 days back the Speaker rejected the petition. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh were present during the filing of nomination on Sunday by Nitin Agarwal, whose father Naresh Agarwal had quit the SP and joined the BJP in 2018.