Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh

• 19 Oct 2021

Why in News

• On October 18, 2021, rebel Samajwadi Party MLA Nitin Agrawal was elected Deputy Speaker of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, defeating his lone Samajwadi Party rival Narendra Singh Verma.

Key Points

• Voting for the Deputy Speaker's election began at 11 am after the House proceedings began and Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit announced the result at 4 pm.
• 368 MLAs voted against the total 403 members of the Assembly, out of which four votes were declared invalid. Nitin Agarwal got 304 votes, while Narendra Singh Verma got only 60 votes.
• The Congress and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party boycotted the election, while the rebel MLAs of both the parties voted in favor of either the BJP or the Samajwadi Party. Members of the Samajwadi Party protested the election and wore black badges.
• The ruling BJP had fielded rebel Samajwadi Party MLA Nitin Agarwal as its candidate for the vice-president's post. Despite the lack of numbers, the main opposition party, the Samajwadi Party, had also filed its candidate Narendra Verma's nomination for the post.
• The BJP has a total of 304 seats in the present (17th) assembly. Samajwadi Party has 49 MLAs, Bahujan Samaj Party has 16, Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 9, Indian National Congress 7 and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has 4 MLAs. There are 3 independents, 2 unaffiliated members and 2 other members while 7 seats are vacant. There is also a nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community.