Election for UP Assembly Deputy Speaker underway in Lucknow

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 18 : The election for Deputy Speaker of Uttar Pradesh Assembly commenced on Monday at Vidhan Sabha hall.
The Uttar Pradesh government had called a special one-day Assembly session today from 11 am to 1 pm to hold the elections for the deputy speaker's post, which has remained vacant for 14 years.
Samajwadi Party has fielded its legislator against one of its MLA Nitin Agarwal who is backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections for deputy speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Interestingly, the BJP has extended its support to Samajwadi Party MLA Nitin Agarwal for the elections of deputy speaker. On the other hand, Akhilesh Yadav's SP pitted legislator Narendra Verma against Agarwal.
Speaking to ANI before the poll process started, senior BJP leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said, "This election is very important. Samajwadi Party could not elect a candidate for four years. We have reduced their difficulty. They should thank us."
Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "We believe that the results would be good."
Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 325 seats out of a total of 403 Assembly seats. Samajwadi Party won 47 seats, BSP emerged victorious on 19 seats while Congress bagged seven seats.