Uttar Pradesh is set to get its youngest chief minister in 38-year-old Akhilesh Yadav, with the Samajwadi Party (SP) legislature party on Saturday unanimously electing him as their leader.
Akhilesh, the parliamentarian son of SP chief and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, is to be sworn on March 15.
The decision to give him the top post was finalised at an hour-long meeting of the newly elected SP legislators in Lucknow on Saturday.
Akhilesh's name was proposed by senior leader Mohd Azam Khan. Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav seconded the proposal, after which the former bowed to his father and touched his feet.
The spadework for Akhilesh's coronation was scripted at a late night parley on Friday between Mulayam Singh, Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav.
It was at this meeting that the party supremo made "his mind clear about Akhilesh", a close aide of Mulayam Singh said.
With the newly elected party legislators already pitching for Akhilesh as chief minister and with a brute majority of 224 in the 403-seat house, leaders with a different opinion on the matter fell in line.
Both Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav were reported to be unhappy with the decision to make Akhilesh, a youngster in the party compared to both of them, the chief minister.
"For someone who has grown in front of them, you must understand that it is not easy for anyone to see him as a boss," said a close aide of Azam Khan. The differences were thrashed out Friday night.
An MP from Kannauj, Akhilesh is largely seen as a game changer in UP politics and credited with the massive mandate in favour of the party in the assembly polls.
An environmental engineer from Sydney University, Akhilesh was appointed state president of the SP in 2009. He slogged it out for the party in hostile situations, with Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati at the helm of affairs.
After his elevation as chief minister, Akhilesh would now quit his seat as MP from Kannauj and is likely to contest elections for the state assembly from Jaswantnagar, a seat for long held by Shivpal Yadav.
Before Akhilesh's election as the chief minister, Mayawati was the youngest Uttar Pradesh chief minister at 39 years of age.
Akhilesh stakes claim to form government
Chief Minister designate Akhilesh Yadav met Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L. Joshi and staked claim to form the next government in the state.
Flanked by Samajwadi Party leaders Shivpal Yadav and Mohd Azam Khan, Akhilesh Yadav handed over a letter to Joshi stating he had been elected the party's legislature leader.
The trio reached the Raj Bhawan together.
Later, they posed for the media, with Shivpal Yadav flashing a victory sign. Azam Khan refused to interact with the press and quietly sat in the car even as Akhilesh Yadav shook hands with officials.
