Lucknow, Nov 14: Samajwadi Party MLA Waqar Ahmed Shah was today elected unopposed as the 16th Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The announcement was made by Assembly Speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi.

Mr Ahmed, of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Bahraich, was the only candidate to file his nomination papers yesterday. A formal announcement on his election was made in the assembly before the tabling of the budget.

While traditionally the post goes to the opposition, this time the case is different as Speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi belongs to the main opposition BJP and is likely to continue.

Soon after the medical graduate was announced as the new Deputy Speaker, leader of the House and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and leader of the opposition Lalji Tandon (BJP) accompanied him to his chair in the House. Several other leaders from various political parties applaused as Mr Ahmed sat on the chair of the Deputy Speaker. According to Assembly Principal Secretary R P Tripathi, three sets of nomination papers were filed on behalf of the candidate.

While one was moved by Rashtriya Kranti Party leader Kalyan Singh and seconded by leader of the opposition Lalji Tandon, second was moved by Ambika Choudhury and seconded by Anil Kumar Singh and the third was moved by Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari and seconded by CPI(M) Ram Sarup.

Later, Mr Ahmed told that he would try to maintain the tradition and work under the rules of the house. ''I will try to set a precedence by maintaining an unbiased attitude inside and outside the house,'' he added. Bureau Report