The principle Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly Samajwadi Party has elected former two-time speaker Mata Prasad Pandey new leader of the Opposition.
Mata Prasad Pandey was elected LoP replacing Akhilesh Yadav, party president, in a meeting of the SP legislature party here on Sunday ahead of the monsoon session of the UP legislature which will start tomorrow.
The choice of Pandey for the post came as a surprise for everyone as the name of a Dalit leader, Indrajit Saroj, was top on the probable list. Secondly, the SP that was coining the PDA (Pichara, Dalit, and Alpasankyak) suddenly gave the plump post to a Brahmin.
Apart from the new LoP, the SP has appointed MLA Mehboob Ali presiding leader, Kamal Akhtar chief whip, and Rakesh Kumar alias RK Verma as deputy whip.
It is noteworthy that earlier the leader of the Opposition in the assembly was Akhilesh Yadav. Mata Prasad Pandey is the MLA from the Itawa assembly seat of the Siddharthnagar district.
Meanwhile, during the legislature party meeting chaired by party chief Akhilesh Yadav, instructions were given to the legislators of both houses to enter the assembly for the first time after the Lok Sabha elections with full preparation on the issues of public interest to be raised prominently. Among these, farmers, caste census, and law and order will be the main issues.