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Mata Prasad Pandey.
Credit: upvidhansabhaproceedings.gov.in
Lucknow: Springing a surprise, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday nominated senior party leader Mata Prasad Pandey, a brahmin, as his replacement as leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.
Akhilesh, who was the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, had resigned from Karhal seat after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj parliamentary constituency in the recently concluded LS polls.
Mata Prasad Pandey was unanimously elected leader of the opposition at a meeting of the SP legislature party which was chaired by Akhilesh. Pandey, who was an MLA from Itwa assembly seat in Siddharth Nagr district, has also been speaker of the House twice.
The choice of Pandey, a well known 'brahmin' face of the party, came as a surprise as many senior leaders from OBC and SC were in the race to become the leader of the opposition.
Pandey's appointment was intended to counter the oft repeated allegations of the BJP that the SP was primarily a party of the 'Yadavs' and Muslims and that it was 'anti-brahmin' and make a dent into the 'brahmin' vote bank of the saffron party.
According to the SP sources, Akhilesh was looking for a senior 'brahmin' leader after the exit of Manoj Pandey, the party MLA from Unchahar assembly seat in Raebareli district, who had joined the BJP before the LS polls.
''By choosing Pandey, Akhilesh has also sought to fill this gap....Mata Prasad Pandey has a large following in his community,'' said a senior SP leader while speaking to DH here.