Samajwadi Party leader Neeraj Shekhar on Monday resigned as member of the Rajya Sabha and his resignation was accepted by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. Shekhar, the son of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, met Naidu and told him he is resigning voluntarily and not under any compulsion, the sources said.
Shekhar was a prominent leader of the Samajwadi Party and there is speculation that he might join the BJP. Upset over having been allegedly sidelined, Neeraj quit amidst speculations over his next course of political move.
He first became a member of the Lok Sabha in 2008 in the by-elections for Ballia constituency. The following year, he won again from the same constituency. He had been a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh since November 26, 2014, and was due to retire on November 25, 2020.
He lost the 2014 polls and the party sent him to Rajya Sabha. But his demand to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ballia had been rejected by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who fielded Sanatan Pandey instead from there.