Delhi has suddenly discovered me: Akhilesh Yadav

“After six months of hard work, it looks like Delhi has suddenly discovered me,” says a triumphant Akhilesh Yadav according to a report in msnindia.com.

The 39-year-old politician and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son, has come a long way in Uttar Pradesh’s politics since he first got elected to Lok Sabha in 2000. Uttar Pradesh has changed since 2000. Aspirations have taken over affiliations, and youth has taken over the old. This change in UP is reflected in the transformation that Akhilesh Yadav’s personality has seen in a span of 12 years.

From initially questioning the need of computers in education to promising free laptops to students, with keypads in Urdu - this is the change that Akhilesh Yadav has ensured that Samajwadi Party has gone through.

Akhilesh had even commented that, “There is no harm if kids learn English and computers – this is the way to progress,” a clear departure from the party’s earlier anti-English stand.

Though he ensures that he interacts with the media only in Hindi, Akhilesh has a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree from Sri Jayachamarajendra  College of Engineering from Mysore. He also has a Masters in  environmental engineering from Sydney University. He was schooled at Dholpur Military School.

To all those who think Akhilesh is not a charmer like his political counterpart Rahul Gandhi, he had a love marriage.

Now with results indicating that Samajwadi Party is all set to make a major comeback with nearly over 212 seats already in its kitty, which is way ahead of the magic figure of 202,  it is clear that the Akhilesh effect has worked.

In an interview to CNN-IBN earlier today, Akhilesh made it clear that the victory was not just because of him but due to the efforts of all party workers. “The whole party struggled for five years. We were humiliated by the BSP for the last five years. "

He also made it clear that he was “not in the race” for the post of chief minister and that it will go to “Netaji” - his father Mulayam Singh Yadav- as he was the"popular choice” of the party cadre.

At the same time, he doubted whether Congress, leading the coalition at the Centre, will impose President’s Rule in UP in the wake of a hung verdict. “I doubt they will go for President’s Rule…but if that happens, we’ll certainly oppose it,” he said.

When asked about the link between SP and the goonda raj, he made it clear that their government would ensure that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh will not deteriorate. “Law and order will be our priority,” he said.

When asked about the Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh, he stated, that while Rahul had done some good work in UP, the party still had to account for it’s corrupt practices in the Centre.

Since 12 September last year, Akhilesh has travelled 5,000 km in the state, including 200 km through a cycle yatra, covering 225 constituencies.

With inputs from PTI

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