Uttar Pradesh got its youngest ever chief minister on Thursday when 38-year-old Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in as the 33rd chief minister of the state.
Nineteen cabinet ministers and 28 ministers of state were sworn in along with the chief minister by the UP governor B.L. Joshi at the ceremony that was witnessed by a galaxy of political stalwarts and industrialists. The lone woman minister to be sworn in was Aruna Kori who will be minister of state.
Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, Trinamul Congress minister Sultan Ahmad, Left leaders Prakash Karat, A.B. Vardhan and Sitaram Yechury , former Jhark-hand chief minister Babu Lal Marandi, senior Cong-ress leader Motilal Vora and union minister Pawan Bansal, industrialists Anil Ambani and Subrato Roy Sahara and Ms Jaya Bachchan were among the VIP guests at the swearing in ceremony. The entire Yadav clan was also present on the occasion.
Two former ministers from the Mayawati government—Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya — also attended the swearing in ceremony on behalf of the party president.
The ministers in the Akhilesh government are mainly those who had worked in the Mulayam Singh government. The lone member of the young Team Akhilesh to be sworn in on Thursday is Abhishek Misra, a former faculty member at the IIM Ahmedabad.
Veterans like Mohd Azam Khan, Shivpal Singh Yadav, Ahmad Hasan, Waqar Ahmad Shah, Raja Anand Singh, Raja Bhaiyya, Durga Yadav and Ambica Choudhury are among the Cabinet ministers. Talking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony, the chief minister said that henceforth maintaining law and order in the state would be his responsibility.
“As far as corruption is concerned, the Lokayukta is already probing a number of cases and my government will act firmly if officials are charged with corruption,” he said adding that he would fully implement the party manifesto which promises a commission of inquiry into cases of corruption in the Mayawati regime.
The Akhilesh ministry, interestingly, includes a number of tainted ministers including some with criminal antecedents.
When questioned, the chief minister referred to the inclusion of Raja Bhaiyya into the council of minister and explained that most of the criminal cases against him had been set up by in the BSP regime. Meanwhile, the swearing-in ceremony saw a huge crowd of party workers who gate crashed into the venue and shoved their way towards the stage, climbing on to the sofas. Mr Akhilesh Yadav was seen repeatedly pleading with party workers to remain disciplined but the surge of excitement was so strong that o one was willing to listen to the leaders.