Akhilesh Yadav

Akhilesh Yadav (Hindi: अखिलेश यादव Akhileś Yādav [ʌkʰɪˈleːʃ ˈjɑːd̪ʌʋ]; born 1 July 1973 in Saifai, Etawah district) is an Indian Samajwadi Party politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was the acting Chief Minister (head of government) of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017.

Akhilesh Yadav was born on July 1, 1973 in Saifai village of Etawah district in western Uttar Pradesh. He is the son of politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, who held the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh three times. The family belongs to the Yadav, a caste only slightly above the Dalits (casteless) according to the traditional caste system, but demographically strong in Uttar Pradesh and with correspondingly great political influence. The Samajwadi Party, founded by Akhilesh Yadav's father, has its supporters mainly among the Yadav and other low castes.

Akhilesh Yadav attended a military boarding school in Rajasthan and then studied environmental engineering at the University of Mysore and in Sydney. He completed his studies with a Master's degree. Akhilesh Yadav's political career began in 2000 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, from the Kannauj constituency in a by-election for the Samajwadi Party. He defended his constituency in the 2004 and 2009 elections. In the Uttar Pradesh state assembly election, Akhilesh Yadav was a driving force in the Samajwadi Party campaign. After his party won the election with an absolute majority, Akhilesh Yadav was appointed as the new Chief Minister. He was united in office on March 15, 2012. At 38, he was the youngest Chief Minister in the history of Uttar Pradesh so far.

In the years after 2014, Akhilesh Yadav became increasingly at odds with his father, who continued to hold the post of Samajwadi Party president. After his father even expelled him from the party for a day, Akhilesh Yadav called an extraordinary delegates' meeting on January 1, 2017, from which he got himself elected as the new party president by a large majority. His father, was given an honorary post as the party's "chief mentor" with largely ceremonial powers only.

See also

• List of Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh