Samajwadi Party's Mata Prasad Pandey named Leader of Opposition in UP Assembly

Samajwadi Party leader Mata Prasad Pandey has been named Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Assembly after Akhilesh Yadav was elected to Lok Sabha in the recently held general election. The 81-year-old veteran leader represents Itwa constituency in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharthnagar district

Team Asianet Newsable

First Published Jul 28, 2024, 5:22 PM IST | Last Updated Jul 28, 2024, 5:22 PM IST

The Samajwadi Party on Sunday (July 28) appointed Mata Prasad Pandey as the Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. He will replace party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who resigned as MLA from the Karhal seat after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj. Following the decision made during an MLA meeting at the Lucknow headquarters of the SP, the party made the statement. The 81-year-old Pandey has been an MLA seven times and has held the position of assembly speaker twice before.

He represents the Itwa seat in the Siddharthnagar district and is a member of the Brahmin caste. Kamal Akhtar, a Kanth MLA and former state minister, was chosen the chief whip of the SP, with Rakesh Kumar Verma serving as deputy whip.

The position of Leader of Opposition had fallen vacant after party chief and incumbent Akhilesh Yadav was elected to Lok Sabha from Kannauj parliamentary constituency.

Reacting to the announcement, Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter and wrote: "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to senior socialist leader Shri Mata Prasad Pandey ji on being elected as the Leader of Opposition in the UP Legislative Assembly! Shri Mata Prasad Pandey Ji has had a long experience of knowing, understanding and making others follow the Vidhan Sabha and its healthy traditions and the way he is well versed with the law and the process of law making, its benefit will be availed not only by all the MLAs of SP but also by the Speaker of the House, the Chief Minister and all his ministers and MLAs."

In the 2022 UP assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 273 seats out of 403, with the saffron party alone winning 255 seats. The SP managed to win 111 seats. Meanwhile, in the recently concluded parliamentary polls, the SP chief was elected to the 18th Lok Sabha from Kannauj, defeating BJP's Subrat Pathak.

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