Akhilesh Yadav says maintenance of law and order to be top priority

Lucknow, Mar 10 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh chief minister-elect Akhilesh Yadav promised on Saturday that his top priority after assuming office would be maintenance of law and order in the state.

Addressing mediapersons, after legislators and lawmakers of Samajwadi Party (SP) chose him for the post of chief minister, Yadav said that the current incidents of post-poll violence in the state were the result of the inability of the outgoing government to control the situation.

"It is the responsibility of the Samajwadi Party to keep law and order intact. Currently, all the officials in the state belong to the old regime, who will remain till the time of my swearing-in, and the current chief minister shall be the caretaker. You will see very soon, that honest officials will be appointed, and action will be taken against the officials who fail to maintain law and order," he said.

Akhilesh further said that Mulayam Singh Yadav would continue to guide the SP government in the state, even as the Samajwadi Party chief eyed for himself a larger role in the national arena.

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will participate in both national and state politics. We are working with the benefit of his advice and blessings, and we shall continuously aspire to move forward as a united group," he said.

Akhilesh, later in the day, accompanied senior Samajwadi Party leaders Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan to the residence of the state Governor B L Joshi to inform him of the party's decision.

Akhilesh, 38, who played a major role in his party's victory in the recently concluded assembly elections, has been chosen to become the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, till now.

He will be sworn in with his cabinet on March 15.

Samajwadi Party won an absolute majority by winning 224 seats in the 403-member assembly leaving the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) far behind with 80 seats.

Other significant parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress Party and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and NCP have been left to play the role of opposition in the state assembly. (ANI)