Girish to represent BSP in Parl, Yadav to be his deputy

Keeping caste arithmetic of the SP-BSP alliance in mind, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati nominated Dalit leader and newly-elected MP from Nagina (Reserved) Lok Sabha seat Girish Chandra to lead the party in Parliament while a Yadav leader as his deputy and a Muslim as chief whip. Decisions in this regard were taken at a meeting by Mayawati in New Delhi on Monday night.

Sources in Lucknow confirmed on Tuesday that Girish Chandra would lead the BSP in Lok Sabha while Shyam Singh Yadav (MP from Jaunpur) was made his deputy by the BSP chief. Meanwhile, Kunwar Danish Ali, who joined the BSP from Janata Dal (Secular) just before the elections and won from Amroha seat, will be the chief whip of the party.

Girish Chandra became a BSP MLA in 2007-12 and worked for the party in different capacities in Moradabad, Bareilly, Saharanpur and Meerut divisions. On the other hand, Shyam Singh Yadav is a retired PCS officer and belongs to a political family.

The BSP, which had drawn a blank in 2014 Lok Sabha polls in UP, won ten seats in alliance with the SP and RLD after contesting 38 seats. The SP won five seats while the RLD repeated its dismal feat of 2014 by failing to bag any seat in 2019 too.