Akhilesh Yadav, national president of the Samajwadi Party who served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017.
Having assumed office on March 15, 2012 at the age of 38, he is the youngest person to have held the office. Yadav is the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly since March 2022, an elected Member of Parliament for Azamgarh in the 17th Lok Sabha, and the incumbent Member of Legislative Assembly for Karhal in the 18th Vidhan Sabha.
His first significant success in politics was being elected as the Member of the Lok Sabha in 2000 for the Kannauj constituency. He is the son of veteran politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder-patron of Samajwadi Party who has served as the Minister of Defence in the Government of India and three terms as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Early life
Akhilesh Yadav was born on July 1, 1973 in a village called Saifai in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party of which he is also a member.
Akhilesh Yadav's mother is Malti Devi. Akhilesh completed his schooling at Dholpur Military School in Rajasthan. Thereafter, he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree course in Civil Environmental Engineering from Mysore University.
He also studied in the University of Sydney, from where he holds a degree in Environmental Engineering. By profession he is an engineer, agriculturist and a socio-political worker.
Akhilesh Yadav married Dimple Yadav on November 24, 1999 and the couple have two daughters, Aditi and Tina, and a son, Arjun. Akhilesh has keen interest in sports such as football and cricket. His favourite pastimes include reading, listening to music and watching films.
Political career
In 2000, Akhilesh Yadav was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kannauj. Thereafter, he won the Lok Sabha elections for the next two consecutive terms.
Akhilesh Yadav has held membership in Civil Supplies, Food and Public Distribution Committee.
From 2000 to 2001, he served as a member of the Committee on Ethics.
From 2002 to 2004, he was a member of the Committee on Environment and Forests and also of the Committee on Science and Technologies.
In 2004, he was re-elected as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha for a second term.
From 2004 to 2009, he held membership in Committee on Urban Development, Committee on Estimates, Committee on Provision of Computers to various departments.
In 2009, he became member of the 15th Lok Sabha; he got re-elected for a third consecutive term.
From 2009 to 2012, he served as member of the Committee on Environment & Forests, Committee on Science & Technology and the JPC on the 2G spectrum scam.
On 10 March 2012, Akhilesh Yadav was appointed the leader of the Samajwadi Legislative Party in Uttar Pradesh.
On 15 March 2012, at the age of 38 years, he became the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
On 2 May 2012, he resigned as member of the 15th Lok Sabha to become Member of Legislative Council in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
In May 2012 Yadav resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat to further serve as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh after his party won the Assembly elections. In the same month he became Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative council.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the SP-Congress Alliance headed by Yadav was unable to form the government. He submitted his resignation to Governor Ram Naik on 11 March.
The 2019 Indian general elections and 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections saw Yadav being elected to the parliament and state assembly simultaneously, with Yadav later retaining his state assembly seat, and thereby submitting his resignation in the Lok Sabha.
