Speaking politically as the assembly polls to country’s most populous state approached, Akhilesh declined to play a ‘papa’s boy’, repeatedly addressed his aging father as “Netaji (our ultimate leader)” and took a few hard political decisions. He opposed the induction of western UP strongman D P Yadav and forced the senior Yadav (his father) to remove veteran Mohan Singh as the spokesman for backing D P Yadav’s entry.

In fact, as the UP unit President of the party, almost fighting its Waterloo, he gave unto himself the larger say in the running of the party, selecting candidates and drawing the campaign graph.

He also forced the party – still drunk with an old socialistic stance – to shed the past prejudices and led the Samajwadi turn to ‘modern’ and pledged English education and computerization and distribution of laptops and computers in the election manifesto.

The youth icon of his party has not only arrived; he was the unquestionable and more importantly, the man of the series of the 2012 polls.

According to his admirers which now includes the Delhi-centric television channels who even ‘slavishly’ portrayed Rahul Gandhi as the country’s new hope, sum it up with least hesitation that the polls marked the emergence of a ‘Brand Akhilesh’. Importantly for his party, proving the prophets of doom wrong especially after the successive debacle in the 2007 assembly elections and 2009 Lok Sabha polls; his father and the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is again back in the race for the prized Prime Minister’s post in the 2014 battle.

This is no mean achievement for a son, whose father Mulayam Singh was already called “mare hue (a dead man)” by BSP supremo Mayawati. On March 6th, when the results started pouring in, Mayawati must have realized her famous quote: “Mare hua ko kya marna (Why should we do anything against a dead man (Mulayam)” had boomeranged and only marked a sweet revenge by the old man’s chocolate cream-faced-son, Akhilesh.

But what has so far remained refreshing vis-à-vis Akhilesh Yadav’s approach to politics is that his utterances, his humility, his body language betrayed no arrogance. “It’s just as his easy access and his boy next door charm appealing to the people of development-starved people of UP during the campaign,” says Trinamool leader Sultan Ahmed.

Though he had scripted the party’s effervescent victory, Akhilesh never sought the sole credit for himself and nor did he indicate even remotely that he was interested in the job of ‘new Nawab’ (Chief Minister) in Lucknow.

The youth icon of his party has not only arrived; he was the unquestionable and more importantly, the man of the series of the 2012 polls.

Since 2009, when he was made UP unit President, Akhilesh choreographed his party’s election strategy revolving around the theme of ‘Roti, Kapada sasti Ho and Dawai Pani Muft Ho’ (People should get cheap bread and butter and water and medicine free). He had taken to the streets by organising state-wide agitations against Mayawati’s misrule and was also arrested on March 9th, 2011 at Amasui airport in Lucknow.

Akhilesh, who had done his Masters in Environmental Engineering from Sydney University, unlike several other socialist politicians from the cow-belt had concentrated more on ground work and at grassroots instead of bravado of the likes of Lalu Prasad or segmented appeal of Ram Vilas Paswan in Bihar.

He did not have the lung power of the political class of the cow belt, nor did he display a faulty image of ‘angry-young man’ like Rahul Gandhi; but he spoke more on what really made sense for the electorate.

Even a political rival Arun Jaitley of BJP has lauded Akhilesh’s sober and sensible approach in contrast to Congress chief campaigner Rahul Gandhi’s symbolic gestures of pulling up shirt sleeves or tearing up rivals’ manifestoes.

But coming to the main business now, Akhilesh has again quite a daunting task at hand as the Chief Minister of UP.

According to observers, the challenges would be multi-pronged - administrative to a governance-starved UP and politically he has to manage his father’s old guards.
 
Akhilesh Yadav will also have to demonstrate that he means business on the promises he made during the campaign, and he will have to move towards their delivery in the first six months itself, given the hopes he has raised, if he is to stay ahead of his opponents.

Though Mulayam SinghYadav has for the moment managed to bring around the old guard, their opposition will not disappear and can resurface any time Akhilesh makes a mistake.

“Mulayam is our supreme leader” - Akhilesh Yadav Despite a busy schedule during his trip to Delhi on March 12, Akhilesh spared some time for Eastern Panorama. The following are excerpts of this interview with Akhilesh Yadav EP: Do you believe brand Akhilesh has done better in UP and surpassed the expectations of the party’s old guards led by your father? Akhilesh: Absolutely wrong. Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) is the supreme leader, vote catcher and the real mascot of the party and the downtrodden people. I was just doing my job. EP: What about the talk of the Third Front in national polity? Every body seems to be wooing you including the Left. Akhilesh: Left leaders have been very friendly to Netaji (my father) and the Samajwadi Party. I was just having tea with senior leaders like Gurudas ji (Dasgupta) of CPI. If there is a need for a third front in the country, then it is a good start. The priority of the Samajwadi Party will be to take Uttar Pradesh on the path of progress. But our invitation to Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalitha has nothing to do with it. EP: So are you for a non-Congress and non-BJP front? Akhilesh: I am just a foot soldier of the party. Netaji has to take a final decision on everything especially about national issues. Whatever responsibility is given to me, I will shoulder it. My priority will be to deliver as the Chief Minister of UP. People have given us a huge majority, and an opportunity to implement our manifesto and take Uttar Pradesh on the path of happiness and progress.