Akhilesh Yadav takes over as UP CM
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
Lucknow, March 15 2012:
Akhilesh Yadav, whose campaign helped the Samajwadi Party gain an absolute majority in the elections, was today sworn in as the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh but a surprise inclusion in his Cabinet was the controversial MLA Raja Bhaiya.
38-year-old Akhilesh, son of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, was sworn in as the 33rd Chief Minister of the state at a function at the La Martinere College ground here in the presence of a huge gathering that included members of SP's first family � Mulayam Singh, Akhilesh's wife Dimple � and an array of political leaders.
Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader A B Bardhan and industrialists Anil Ambani and Subrata Roy Sahara and actress and former SP MP Jaya Bachchan were also present.
Significantly, Congress which lost a high-stake battle to SP, sent Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and senior leader Moti Lal Vora as representatives to the event.
BSP was represented by former ministers Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya.
Among the 28 Cabinet ministers sworn in by Governor B L Joshi were senior leader and Muslim face of SP Azam Khan, Mulayam Singh's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, Ahmad Hasan, Waqar Ahmad Shah, Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Ambika Chaudhary and Anand Singh.
19 others of Minister of State rank were also inducted.
Akhilesh, who appeared to give an image of breaking with the past and removing the tag of "goonda raj" associated with Samajawadi Party's earlier rule, inducted Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, against whom there are pending criminal cases of attempt to murder, kidnapping and abduction.
Cabinet ministers, who took oath, were Azam Khan, Shivpal Singh Yadav, Ahmad Hasan, Waqar Ahmad Shah, Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Ambika Chaudhary, Anand Singh, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya.
Other cabinet minister, who were sworn in, were Balram Yadav, Om Prakash Singh, Awadhsh Prasad, Parasnath Yadav, Ram Govind Chaudhary, Durga Prasad Yadav, Brahma Shanker Tripathi, Kameshwar Upadhyaya, Raja Ram Pandey, Raj Kishore Singh and Shiv Kumar Beria.
Akhilesh's ministry is a mix of old and new faces.
While veterans like Azam Khan, Waqar Ahmad Shah, Shivpal Yadav, Ahmad Hasan and Ambika Chaudhary have been given cabinet berths, new faces like Abhishek Mishra, first time MLA from Lucknow north seat, has also been inducted in the ministry.
Adequate representation of Muslims in the government has been ensured with three cabinet ministers and seven ministers of state in it.