Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was publicly rebuked by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav today.
Akhilesh Yadav, the 40-year-old chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was publicly rebuked by his father today. "
Aye Mukhyamantri sun lo! (Chief Minister, listen!). Officers are delaying clearances. Chaploos (stooges) are running the government. Stooges always cheat you, they are not good for a chief minister's image", said Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is chief of the Samajwadi Party.
The young chief minister smiled sportingly at his father's appraisal at a function in Lucknow .
Mulayam also offered his diagnosis of Azam Khan, a senior minister he counts among his closest aides. "Azam Khan, please start working," was his reprimand for the 55-year-old minister who was seated next to Akhilesh Yadav.
Mulayam disclosed that he had intervened to have a file cleared after it was stalled in a government department for over a month.
His remarks are being interpreted by critics as a reflection of his concern that his son's lacklustre performance in Uttar Pradesh will hurt the party's performance in the national election due by May. Uttar Pradesh elects 80 parliamentarians, more than any other state.
In 2012, Akhilesh Yadav's energetic campaign, much of it conducted on the party symbol of a bicycle, promised better law and order for a state riddled with crime and corruption; he also vowed to focus on the needs of Uttar Pradesh's youth by delivering free laptops and better education facilities.
Voters elected him, but since then, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed more riots than any other state, and several Samajwadi Party legislators have been indicted in or linked to crimes and vandalism, allowing political opponents to allege that Akhilesh Yadav has done little to change the state's political landscape.