He was elected a Samajwadi Party (SP) corporator from the Kashmiri Mohalla ward of Old City in Lucknow in 2000, and in 2008, became a member of the Shia Central Waqf Board. In 2012, Tyagi was expelled from the SP for six years after falling out with Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad, who accused him of misappropriation of funds.[7] Tyagi termed these charges as "cooked up" motivated by the desire to "weaken his argument".[2] Tyagi later got relief from the court and was reinstated.[7]