SP ignored PDA after taking their votes: Mayawati as Mata Prasad Pandey appointed LoP

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday took a dig at the SP for appointing Mata Prasad Pandey, a Brahmin face, Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, alleging the Akhilesh Yadav-led party ignored the PDA community after taking their votes in the Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav formulated the PDA acronym before the Lok Sabha polls and alleged his rival parties have done nothing for the PDA -- 'Picchde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak' (backwards, Dalits and minorities) -- community.

The Samajwadi Party on Sunday appointed seven-time MLA Mata Prasad Pandey LoP in the state assembly.

Reacting to the appointment, Mayawati claimed the SP gathered PDA votes in the Lok Sabha general elections by "misleading" them, especially in the name of saving the Constitution. "But the way these communities have been ignored while appointing the LoP is a matter of concern," she said in a post on X.

There is no place for any PDA community in the SP, except for "one particular caste", she said.

"And definitely not for the Brahmin community. Because the oppression and neglect the community faced under SP and BJP governments is an open secret. In fact, their development and upliftment happened only during the BSP government. Therefore, these people (Brahmins) must be careful," she said.

New LoP Pandey (82), the MLA from Itwa in Siddharth Nagar district, replaces SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who resigned as MLA from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj.