Lucknow, May 24: MLA and former state minister Naresh Agarwal quit the Samajwadi Party today saying the organisation was being run by a coterie of “film stars and corporate agents”.

He accused fellow general secretary Amar Singh, known for his connections with Bollywood stars and business tycoons, of taking the once socialist party away from the poor.

Naresh, transport and energy minister in the 2003-07 Mulayam Singh Yadav government, said the Samajwadi’s current overtures to the Congress, symbolised by Amar’s presence at the UPA’s fourth anniversary dinner on Thursday, was also a reason for his quitting.

This morning, Naresh handed in his resignation as MLA, which Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar quickly accepted. His loyalist Raj Kumar Agarwal, a member of the legislative council, also quit the party and the House.

“The Samajwadi Party does not need sincere party workers now. It needs film stars and corporate agents. The party is being run by a caucus and if you protest, you are branded a Congress agent,” Naresh said, adding how ironical it was that the party was today “toeing the Congress line”.

But Samajwadi sources suggested he quit because he thought the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party had more to offer.

“We know he cannot survive without being close to the party in power. His allegations are poor excuses. Everybody knows why he is quitting,” Samajwadi spokesman Ashoke Vajpayee said.

Naresh is believed to be working towards a deal with Mayavati, emulating former Union minister Akhilesh Das who recently quit the Congress to join the BSP.

A BSP source said Naresh was eyeing the Hardoi parliamentary seat. “He will be suitably rewarded,” the source said, adding Akhilesh and Naresh would bring Bania votes at a time Mayavati was busy broadening her caste base.

Naresh, who is expected to take away 20-odd loyalists with him, is a known “party-hopper”. In the late 1990s, he quit the Congress, formed the Loktantrik Congress Party and joined the Kalyan Singh government.

He was later a member of the Rajnath Singh minis-try but was sacked on corruption charges. In 2001, he merged his party into the Samajwadi.

Naresh told reporters this evening that at least six other Samajwadi MLAs were ready to quit.

“As long as Amar Singh is in the party, the poor and the backwards who looked up to Mulayam Singh Yadav cannot hope to get anything,” he said.