LUCKNOW: Accompanied by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, party leaders Swami Prasad Maurya, Mukul Yadav, Jasmir Ansari and Shahnawaz Khan filed their nomination papers on Thursday for the June 20 UP legislative council elections. The choice of candidates suggests that the party has not only focused on the backwards but also on its MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank at the same time.
Maurya, who was a minister in the Yogi government when he joined SP months before the 2022 assembly polls, is a powerful backward leader and is likely to be named as the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Council once his election is formally through. With party chief Akhilesh Yadav as leader of the opposition in the assembly, Maurya – a lawyer by profession – leading the opposition in the Council will add to the SP’s image as a strong opposition, feel party strategists.
