Shivpal Yadav & Indrajit Saroj Emerge Frontrunners For Opposition Leader As Akhilesh Vacates UP Assembly Seat

Shivpal Singh Yadav, Indrajit Saroj, and Mata Prasad Pandey are amongst the frontrunners who are in contention to take over the role of leader of opposition in Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

After Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister resgined from his Assembly seat on Wednesday, three senior leaders of the Samajwadi party have emerged as frontrunners who are in contention to take over the role of leader of opposition in the House.

This comes after the Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, vacated his seat in the UP Assembly after contesting the Lok Sabha from Kannauj.

The frontrunners for the post include senior leaders Shivpal Singh Yadav, Indrajit Saroj, and Mata Prasad Pandey, party sources told news agency PTI.

Besides these three leaders, two others including Ram Achal Rajbhar and Ravidas Malhotra are also in contention, PTI reported.

Rajendra Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party chief spokesman stated that Akhilesh Yadav will soon announce his decision about the same.

"Many names are in contention to take over as opposition leader," Rajendra Chaudhary said when asked about the leaders being considered for the position.

On Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav had resigned from the UP assembly, where he represented the Karhal seat.

In a surprising turnout, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which contested the Lok Sabha elections 2024 as part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, won 37 and six out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Following this, the opposition alliance has claimed that it is aiming at the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls slated to be held in 2027.

Shivpal Singh Yadav and Mata Prasad Pandey sit in the front row of the House.

Out of the frontrunners, Shivpal Singh Yadav is the one who has prior experience of serving as the leader of opposition. Into his sixth term as an MLA, Singh headed this position during the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party from 2007 to 2012.

However, in the 2022 assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav became the leader of opposition after the Samajwadi Party won 111 seats in the 403-member House. 

Mata Prasad Pandey is the MLA from the Etwa seat in Siddharthnagar, while Indrajit Saroj represents the Majhanpur constituency in Kaushambi.

Another frontrunner Malhotra is a senior legislator from Lucknow, while Rajbhar is the MLA from Akbarpur in Ambedkar Nagar district.