Shivpal Yadav, Indrajit Saroj in contention to replace Akhilesh as opposition leader in UP Assembly

Lucknow: With Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav vacating his seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly after his election to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj, three senior party leaders have emerged as frontrunners to take over from him as leader of opposition in the House.

Among the frontrunners for the post are senior leaders Shivpal Singh Yadav, Mata Prasad Pandey and Indrajit Saroj, party sources said.

Ram Achal Rajbhar and Ravidas Malhotra are also in contention, they said.

Samajwadi Party chief spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI Bhasha that Akhilesh Yadav will soon take a decision in this regard.

Asked about the leaders being considered for the position, he said many names are in contention to take over as opposition leader.

Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday resigned from the assembly, where he represented the Karhal seat.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which contested the general elections in an alliance, won 37 and six out of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

The opposition camp has claimed that it is targeting the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2027.

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

Into his sixth term as an MLA, Shivpal Singh Yadav -- who represents Jaswant Nagar in the House -- served as the leader of opposition during the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party dispensation from 2007-12.

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

Pandey is the MLA from the Etwa seat in Siddharthnagar while Saroj represents the Majhanpur constituency in Kaushambi. Rajbhar is the MLA from Akbarpur in Ambedkar Nagar district while Malhotra is a senior legislator from Lucknow.