Lucknow:
His swearing-in ceremony ended with Samajwadi Party workers going on a rampage. The nationally-broadcast pictures were used to underscore that Akhieslh Yadav's biggest challenge as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh will be maintaining law and order not just in his state, but within his party.
Today, 10 of the men involved in yesterday's mini-riot have been expelled from the party. Most of them were senior-level workers in the districts they belong to. After the ceremony ended, they were seen climbing onto the table used by the chief minister and Governor. They led groups that broke chairs, pulled down the thousands of floral arrangements at the venue, tore sofas apart, and yanked out the audio speakers and mics that had been installed for the public address system.
Mr Yadav promised voters during his campaign that he would cleanse his party of the "goondas" or hooligans it has been accused, for years, of sheltering and promoting. One of the ministers in his brand-new cabinet is Raghuraj Pratap Singh, better known as Raja Bhaiyya, who has eight criminal cases against him including some for dacoity and murder.