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

The 81-year-old veteran leader represents Itwa constituency in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district. A seven-time MLA, he has served as Speaker of the Assembly for two terms. Former state minister and Kanth MLA Kamal Akhtar has been named the chief whip of Samajwadi Party in the Assembly and Rakesh Kumar Verma is now the 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.