At Yogi Adityanath's Oath Ceremony, PM Narendra Modi's Bonhomie With The Samajwadis

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam attended the swearing in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath on Sunday as Uttar Pradesh's new chief minister along with two deputy chief ministers and a 43-member cabinet.

The oath ceremony was attended by top leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, its union ministers and Chief Ministers in other states and veterans like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. 

In attendance were also former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam. The father-son duo also exchanged pleasantries with the prime minister.
 Reflecting warmth, PM Modi shook hands with Akhilesh and patted him on his shoulder. He also held the hands of Mulayam, who was seen whispering something to the prime minister. And the Prime Minister was all ears.

This was in stark contrast to the campaigning for UP assembly elections when Akhilesh Yadav and PM Modi were often seen taking potshots at each other. 

In his rallies, PM Modi had ridiculed the opposition alliance of SP and Congress, saying they together stood for 'SCAM' (Samajwadi, Congress and Mayawati).

Not to be outdone, Akhilesh, who was leading his party in this election, came out with his own take on SCAM, saying it stood for 'Save Country from Amit (Shah) and Modi'.

His remark asking megastar Amitabh Bachchan not to endorse "donkeys of Gujarat" also left the BJP fuming, with PM Modi hitting back at the chief minister.

BSP chief Mayawati, however, was not present at the venue.

Mr Adityanath - the five-time BJP parliamentarian from Gorakhpur and the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple - is the 32nd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

(with inputs from PTI)