Samajwadi Party appoints Mata Prasad Pandey as Uttar Pradesh Assembly LoP

Seven-time MLA Mata Prasad Pandey has been picked by the Samajwadi Party (SP) as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Pandey, 82, will replace SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, who resigned as MLA from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj parliamentary constituency.

On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav appointed Mata Prasad Pandey, SP MLA from Itwa in Siddharth Nagar district, the leader of opposition in the assembly, a party leader said, adding that the decision was taken at a meeting held at the party headquarters in Lucknow

Samajwadi Party MLAs had authorised Akhilesh Yadav to choose the LoP, he said.

The party also appointed Kamaal Akhtar as the chief whip and Rakesh Kumar alias R K Verma as the deputy whip in the assembly, according to a party release.