Liquor distributed at temple event organised by BJP leader in UP's Hardoi

Kanpur: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Naresh Agarwal and his son were embroiled in a controversy after videos surfaced on Monday.

Naresh Agarwal's son Nitin had organised a sammelan (conference) for the Pasi community at the Shravan Devi Temple.

In a video from the event, Nitin Agarwal can be seen announcing from the dais that the food packets will be handed over to the village headman who would, in turn, distribute it to the people accompanying him.

The video showed 200 ml plastic liquor bottles in lunch packets distributed to people who attended a sammelan organised by the duo in Hardoi on Sunday.

In the video, children are seen showing the liquor bottles placed neatly in the lunch packets.

Following the controversy, BJP MP from Hardoi Anshul Verma criticised Agarwal for the distribution of liquor and asserted that he will be raising the issue with the party leaders.

Verma said "Naresh Agarwal, who has recently taken the membership of the BJP had organised a Pasi sammelan at one of our religious places. I will call it an unfortunate event because, to the same small children whom we have given pens and copies, Agarwal distributed the liquor bottles. I will inform the top leadership. How did the excise department not take notice of such large-scale distribution of liquor? To rectify its mistake, BJP will have to rethink".

Verma wrote a letter to state chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday and sought strict actions against the duo.

Agarwal and his son have not yet made any comment about distributing lunch boxes with liquor bottles at the temple event.

Naresh Agarwal, a former Rajya Sabha member, had left the Samajwadi Party to join BJP in 2018. He is preparing the ground to contest 2019 Lok Sabha election on the BJP ticket from Hardoi.