BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya will be the leader of Opposition in the newly elected Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He was been elected leader of BSP legislature Party yesterday. Mr. Maurya has won assembly elections from Padrauna constituency for the second time.
AIR Lucknow correspondent reports that BSP has emerged second largest party with 80 members in 16th assembly. A four time MLA from Banda district Gaya Charan Dinkar will be Deputy Leader of the party in the house.
Outgoing Power Minister Ramveer Upadhyaya has been given responsibility of chief whip of the BSP in the assembly. These decisions were taken in the meeting of newly elected members to the assembly held at Lucknow. Meeting was chaired by the Party chief Mayawati.
It has also been decided that senior Minister of Mayawati Government Naseemuddin Siddiqui will be leader of the party in the Legislative Council, while Gopal Narayan Mishra will be deputy leader in the council.
Mayawati has called a meeting of party coordinators today in which she is expected to discuss the reasons of BSP's poll debacle and to draw further strategy.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister-designate of the state Akhilesh Yadav has said that maintenance of law and order in the state was his top priority.
Talking to media persons after his selection as leader of the legislative party of Samajwadi Party, he said any official found wanting in discharge of duties to maintain order will be dealt with a heavy hand.
Reiterating Samajwadi Party government's resolve to fulfill all to promises made in the party election manifesto, he said his government would ensure inclusive growth while working on sustained development to pull up the state on a par with developed states in the country.
Thirty-eight-year-old Yadav will be sworn-in as the youngest-ever 33rd chief minister of the state on March 15.
Post-poll violence continued unabated in the state with reports of clashes between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party workers pouring in from several districts.
In Etah, a Dalit was killed, allegedly by an SP leader, while in Hardoi, one person was killed and several others injured when two groups clashed. In Moradabad also, an SP MLA created ruckus when police initiated action after his vehicle knocked down and seriously injured a constable.
The police have booked former BSP minister Ram Achal Rajbhar and his two sons, for shooting at a youth in Sammanpur area of Ambedkar Nagar district. Sanjay Rajbhar had contested the Assembly elections from Akbarpur as BSP candidate and lost to his SP rival.
