Akhilesh Yadav Names Veteran SP Leader Mata Prasad Pandey As LoP In UP Assembly

Lucknow, July 28 (TNA) In a swift turn of events that could go a long way for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in setting up the caste matrix in Uttar Pradesh in its favour, it named veteran party leader Mata Prasad Pandey as the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. The post had fallen vacant after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav quit his Karhal legislative assembly seat and went to the Lok Sabha as Kannauj MP.

Pandey was the speaker of the UP Assembly between 2012 and 2017 when Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister of the state. Mehboob Ali has been named for the ‘Adhistatha Mandal’ while Kamal Akhtar has been named the chief whip of the party on the floor of the House.

This was necessitated as Manoj Pandey, its MLA changed sides and joined the BJP. Rakesh Kumar aka Dr RK Verma has been named by the party leadership as the deputy whip.