Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was publicly rebuked by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. (File pic)
After a very public takedown by his father, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said today that he is not offended. "Don't fathers scold their sons?" the 40-year-old head of the Uttar Pradesh government said today.
Mr Yadav's father, Mulayam, is the chief of their Samajwadi Party.
Yesterday, at a government function in Lucknow, Mulayam suggested his son should overhaul his work ethic. "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", he said.
(Chief Minister, step up: Mulayam Singh Yadav to son Akhilesh Yadav)The chief minister seemed to take the criticism on the chin; he was seen smiling.
Mulayam's critique of his son's government included the disclosure that he had intervened to have a file cleared after it was stalled in a government department for over a month.
The cadence of his remarks is being interpreted by critics as a reflection of his concern that his son's lack-lustre performance in Uttar Pradesh will do the Samajwadi Party no favours in the national election. Uttar Pradesh elects 80 parliamentarians, more than any other state.
In 2012, Mr 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.
He won a landslide victory but much of the public goodwill he gleaned has been squandered 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.