Akhilesh Yadav sworn in as the chief minister of UP

Agencies

Lucknow, 15 March 2012: Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, was sworn in as the 33rd chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in a grand ceremony today. The junior Yadav took over as the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s largest and politically significant states, beating his close rival, Mayawati. There would be 46 ministers in Akhilesh’s cabinet-19 cabinet and 27 state ministers.

 

Akhilesh reached the venue well on time. As he sat alone at the dais, the SP’s Muslim representative Azam Khan walked up to him to greet him. Soon afterwards, UP governor BL Joshi arrived and in a few minutes, the state’s chief secretary Anoop Mishra started the ceremony that began with a military band playing the national anthem. As the notes of the song faded, the governor came forward to declare Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister, which was followed by the chief minister-elect taking his oath of office.

 

 

In a few minutes, the names of the cabinet ministers were announced. The list included veterans like Azam Khan, Shiv Pal Yadav, Vaqar Ahmed Shah, Balram Yadav, Parasnath Yadav, Bhrama Shankar Tripathi, Aridaman Singh, Om Prakash Singh and Ram Gopal Chowdhury. The choice of cabinet ministers clearly showed that the young Akhilesh Yadav did not fight shy of including seniors in his team. Most agreed that Akhilesh Yadav’s cabinet comprised a judicious mix of leaders from all castes. The list of ministers actually surprised many when senior leader Ambika Chowdhury was named, despite the fact that he had lost his seat in the Ballia district. Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is also part of the team.

 

Twenty-seven MLAs were also sworn in as ministers of state - including the business community leader of western UP Chittranjan Swaroop, former IIM faculty member Abhishek Mishra, Shankhlal Majhi, Iqbal Masood, Arvind Singh Gope and Rajendra Singh Rana.

 

A host of celebrities, business tycoons and politicians attended the event, including Anil Ambani, Subrato Roy Sahara and SP Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan. Politicians present on the occasion included Union minister for tourism and senior Trinamool Congress leader Sultan Ahmed and CPM leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri. Bahujan Samaj Party was represented by Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya.