Meerut: Congress on Tuesday replaced senior lawyer OP Sharma with another leader Harender Agarwal on Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha seat after local leadership flagged his “proximity” to senior BSP leader Yakub Qureshi who is likely to be fielded by the alliance on the constituency. The decision was taken just 48 hours after Congress leadership came out with the name of Sharma, an old party loyalist. However, local leaders protested against the decision.They claimed that Sharma was close to another Congress leader Yusuf Qureshi, who is the brother of BSP candidate Yakub Qureshi. According to sources, Sharma was recommended for Congress ticket by Yusuf. The local leaders believed that Sharma might be used as a “dummy candidate” by the two brothers. So, the party conceded and replaced him with 64-year-old Harender Agarwal, the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Babu Banarasi Das.According to Akhil Kaushik, Congress’ district spokesperson, "Qureshis’ relationship with Sharma is one of the reasons. The other reason is that Sharma is not as active as Harender Agarwal, who was an MLC with a vast experience in Congress.”On his part, Congress’ Yusuf Qureshi has refuted all charges. “I am in my late sixties. There is only one party I know and worked for and that is Congress. To give ticket or to change candidate is the task of party high command. I never had any role in selection nor can I have such a role. I have full faith in the leadership of Harender Agarwal,” Yusuf said.

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