The swearing in of Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was a grand affair, with PM Modi and BJP President Amit Shah both in attendance. Interestingly, the former CM, Akhilesh Yadav, and his father Mulayam were also present.
The cameras were on Akhilesh as Modi apparently had some kind words after a grueling campaign in Uttar Pradesh, with Mulayam and Shah looking on.
The Telegraph has the lowdown on what was apparently said when the two met. The newspaper quotes a senior BJP politician saying that the Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam apparently asked the PM to ‘teach’ Akhilesh.
“Thoda Akhilesh ka khayal rakhiye (Please take care of Akhilesh),” the newspaper quotes the anonymous BJP leader on the exchange between Mulayam and Modi. The report adds that Akhilesh was standing in a corner of the dais and Mulayam is said to have motioned him to come meet Modi.
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According to the newspaper, Mulayam clasped Modi and Akhilesh’s hands together and said “Inko sikhaiye” (teach him), to Modi. The report mentions that the BJP leader interpreted Mulayam’s statement as trying to tell Modi to teach the ‘intricacies of politics’ to his son.
Modi reportedly was not averse to the banter, tapping the younger Yadav on his shoulder.
In the run-up to the Assembly elections to Uttar Pradesh however, Modi and Akhilesh went at it from the word go. After the PM jibed at Akhilesh’s ‘new friend’, referencing Congress VP Rahul Gandhi, the former UP CM made the ‘Gujarat ke gadhe’ reference; a comment on a tourism video from Gujarat.
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The Samajwadi Party did not fare well in the elections, however. The SP-Congress tie-up won a meager 54 seats in the 403-member assembly while the BJP romped to a majority, winning 312 seats on their own. Yogi Adityanath was named as Akhilesh’s successor by the party and he was sworn in as Chief Minister on 19th March, 2017.
