Akhilesh takes over as party president

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav assumed the mantle of the national president of the Samajwadi Party on Monday.

He summoned the party’s new state chief, Naresh Uttam, and asked him to constitute the state executive in a week and get it ratified from him.

Akhilesh was appointed national president of the party during the emergency national convention organised here on Sunday. Akhilesh’s uncle and SP’s Rajya Sabha member, Ramgopal Yadav, had summoned the historic meeting.

Sources said Uttam may revoke the expulsion of many youth leaders whom Shivpal had earlier expelled from the party.

Akhilesh also held a meeting of party legislators at his official residence at 11am and asked them to go to their constituencies and start campaigning for the upcoming elections. He also warned them not to speak ill of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“He (Akhilesh) told us that ‘netaji’ (Mulayam) is ours, and we should go to the polls invoking his name. We will gift him a second successive majority government of SP,” said Atraulia MLA, Sangram Singh, quoting Akhilesh.

The CM also held meetings of youth wings. Sources said the confusion in the party’s youth wings and state wings, “triggered by the former state president”, would be set right in the next few weeks.

All SP MLAs have been camping in Lucknow since December 21. They had come here to attend the winter session of the UP Assembly but could not return to their constituencies as they were holding meetings either among themselves or with the CM.