Naresh Chandra Agrawal is an Indian politician who was a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in India. He represents the State of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and is a member of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and has been

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

from Hardoi constituency for seven terms.

Early life and education

Naresh Chandra Agrawal was born in

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. History The early history of Hardoi is obscure. The name suggests a Bhar, a Dalit caste ...

. He attended the

University of Lucknow The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher ed ...

and attained

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Political career

Agrawal was a MLA for seven terms from 1980 to 2012 except 1985 to 1989. As an MLA, he represented the Hardoi constituency. He was a member of the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

political party till 12 March 2018, till he joined the Bharatiya Janta Party. Till 1997, he was a member of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. In 1997, he was forming member of

Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress was a regional political party in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was founded in October 1997 by Naresh Agarwal along with Jagdambika Pal, Atul Kumar Singh, Bacha Pathak, Rajeev Shukla, Hari Shankar ...

along with

Jagdambika Pal Jagdambika Pal is an Indian politician. He is a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was also a member of 15th Lok Sabha & 16th Lok Sabha and was a member of Indian National Congress, until he resigned on 7 March 2014. Political career He ...

Rajeev Shukla Rajeev Shukla (born 13 September 1959) is an Indian politician, former journalist, political commentator and the former chairman of Indian Premier League. In 2015, he was re-appointed unanimously as the Chairman of IPL by the BCCI. On 18 Dec 2 ...

and Shyam Sunder Sharma, Bacha Pathak and became Minister of Power in

Kalyan Singh Kalyan Singh (5 January 1932 – 21 August 2021) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Member of Parliament. He was the Chief minister of Utt ...

Ram Prakash Gupta Ram Prakash Gupta (26 October 1923 – 1 May 2004) was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as its predecessor party, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. A post-gra ...

and

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

governments. He was also Minister of Tourism in

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...

Government from 2003 to 2004. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in March 2010 and resigned in March 2012. He was elected again in 2012 from SP . On 12 March 2018, Agarwal left the

and joined the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

after the party chose actress

Jaya Bachchan Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...

as its candidate for election to the

. Agarwal immediately got involved in controversy after he made derogatory remarks towards Bachchan's career choice. This wasn't the first time Agarwal made demeaning comments about women. Then Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Naresh Agarwal sparked a controversy over the brutal Mumbai gang-rape, saying that women needed to pay attention to their clothes to avoid being raped. Agarwal also said that women should not be too influenced by television. His comments sparked extreme controversy and was condemned by the media and the victims' family.

Controversy

In 2014 Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Naresh Agarwal sparked a controversy over the brutal Mumbai gang-rape, saying that women needed to pay attention to their clothes to avoid being raped. Agarwal also said that women should not be too influenced by television. Reacting to the verdict, the mother of the telephone operator, stated, "They deserved death. If there was any harsher punishment than this, their crimes would merit that too. This crime is a blot on society. If rapists like them are set free, it will only encourage molesters and rapists, and send a wrong message to society. Also, it is necessary that equal urgency is shown in all rape and molestation cases. This incident has changed our lives. We live in a locality where word spreads very fast. Some of our neighbours have made our lives hell. They taunt us when we pass. While she has been struggling to overcome the trauma, the local boys have not been letting her do that. She is often chased by youths in the area. When we venture out for family functions, we feel the difference in our relatives' approach towards us." She also added that the quick conviction was only due to the proximity of the 2014 general elections. In July 2017, Agarwal courted controversy by associating Hindu Gods with alcohol, while speaking on the issue of

mob violence A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property target ...

related with cow protection in the ''

''. The comments were removed from records as well the house was adjourned. Agarwal defended himself by saying that he had "not meant to hurt anyone". Deputy Chairperson of the House P. J. Kurien said that the comments "per se derogatory and hurt the sentiments of the majority community and God as it is believed".

Posts held

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrawal, Naresh Chandra 1951 births Living people People from Hardoi Samajwadi Party politicians Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1980–1985 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1989–1991 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1991–1993 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1993–1996 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1997–2002 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2002–2007 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2007–2012 Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Bahujan Samaj Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress politicians

Early life and education

Political career

Controversy

Posts held

See also

References