Lucknow: Eight-time BJP MLA Satish Mahana was on Tuesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.


Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav hailed his election and promised to positively contribute to the functioning of the House.


Speaking in the Assembly after escorting Mahana to the Speaker's chair, Adityanath said it's a good sign for the state that two "wheels of democracy" (ruling and opposition) moved in one direction.


He appealed to members of the House that the elections are over and it's their duty to work for the progress of UP.


Speaking next, Yadav hailed the "beginning of a healthy tradition" in the House by electing the Speaker unanimously.


He urged Mahana to act with neutrality as Speaker and protect the rights of the Opposition.


"Though you come from right (BJP) but now you will see more towards Left (Opposition). Being a referee of the House, you must not become a part of their game," Akhilesh said.


"It will be your duty to safeguard the rights of the Opposition and prevent the government from becoming dictatorial," Yadav said.


Acting Speaker Ramapati Shastri announced the unopposed election of Mahana, with his being the only nomination for the post.


Governor Anandiben Patel had fixed March 29 as the date for the election of the Speaker.


Mahana's nomination was proposed by Adityanath and supported by senior minister Suresh Khanna.


Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had also proposed Mahana's name and his party's Awadhesh Prasad had supported it.


Besides, leaders of other political parties, including Raghuraj Pratap Singh of the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik and Aradhana Mishra of the Congress, too, had proposed his nomination.


Mahana was elected for the eighth time from the Maharajpur seat of Kanpur district in the just-concluded Assembly polls.


Born on October 14, 1960 in Kanpur, he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1991.


Apart from being the Minister of State for Urban Development in the Mayawati-led government of the BSP-BJP alliance, he has also been a minister in the governments led by Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh.


He was the industrial development minister in the previous Yogi Adityanath government.


In the seven-phase elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP-led alliance had bagged 273 seats.


The SP-led alliance bagged 125 seats.


The Congress and the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik got two seats each while the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party secured one seat.