NEW DELHI – Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today publicly rebuked his son, Akhilesh Yadav, the 40-year-old chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, according to a report on news channel NDTV.
“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.
The young chief minister smiled sportingly at his father’s appraisal at a function in Lucknow, the report said. 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 minister who was seated next to Akhilesh Yadav.
His remarks are being interpreted by critics as a reflection of concern that his son’s lacklustre performance in Uttar Pradesh will hurt the party’s performance in the upcoming general elections. Uttar Pradesh elects 80 parliamentarians, more than any other state.
The state government had come under severe attack after its alleged mishandling of riots in Muzaffarnagar, in which over 60 people were killed. The Samajwadi Party, which counts Muslims as its support, is seen losing its grip on the minority community following inept response to the violence in the cane growing area of the state.
Chief minister, step up, Mulayam Singh tells son Akhilesh Yadav
