Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma will be the leader of the House in legislative Council. Sharma, who is not a member of either House at present, was Mayor of lucknow prior to his elevation as Deputy CM on March 19. He will have to obtain membership of the Council within six months from the date of induction in UP cabinet. An official notification designating Sharma as leader of the Upper House was issued.
Another Deputy CM, Keshav Maurya is also not a member of either House and was earlier lok Sabha MP from Kaushambi. He too was tipped to be in the race for post of leader of the legislative Council.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was a lok Sabha MPbefore taking up the new assignment and akin to Sharma and Maurya, Yogi will also have to obtain membership of either House of UP legislature before September 19.
Senior Samajwadi Party MlC Ahmed Hasan would be leader of the Opposition and BSP leader Sunil Chittor has replaced Naseemuddin Siddiqui as leader of the BSP in the Upper House. Dinesh Singh of Congress will be the leader of his party which has two members in the Coucil.
Former CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is also a member of Council but he did not take up the leader of the Opposition’s post.
A joint sitting of UP legislature would be held on Monday when Governor Ram Naik would address the members, which would be the first sitting of the 17th Assembly. Though the BJP has two-third majority of 325 members in the 403-member Assembly, the government is in minority in the Upper House where the main opposition SP has 66 members out of the total of 100 members. The BJP has only eight members in the legislative Council.