Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has now changed tack.
The image makeover from the simple going CM to Mr Tough may well be a result of the frequent pot shots from none other than the Samajwadi Party supremo and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. But, nonetheless, the message sent in the rank and file of the party is loud and clear -- that the CM is no longer prepared to tolerate indiscipline either in the Government or the party.
He has already started asserting himself -- he did not hesitate in taking action against party MlAs who crossed the 'lakshman rekha'. Senior partymen were indeed surprised when the CM and party's state president did not bat an eyelid in expelling a close family relative – party MlA from Auraiyya, Pramod Gupta -- or raising serious allegations against the functioning of his government and even threatening to quit the party if the prevailing lawlessness was not checked.
In the second instance, another MlA from Ballia, Ziauddin Rizvi, was served a show-cause notice for his objectionable remarks in which he stated that the situation in the present Government was worse than that of the previous Mayawati regime. Comparing the erstwhile Bahujan Samaj Party Government to that of the present Samajwadi Party regime, Rizvi had said that the former Mayawati Government was far better as far as law and order or corruption was concerned. In another instance, the party’s lok Sabha candidate from Faizabad, Tilakram Verma, lost his cool at the magistrate and even threatened to give him a boot lashing. Akhilesh promptly took action against the prospective candidate and an FIR was lodged against him for misbehaving with the magistrate.
The CM also took action against the Ambedkarnagar district police chief for dereliction of duty not to speak of the large-scale suspensions in the Excise department ordered by him wherein action was taken against 34 officers.
The 'operation clean up' in the ruling party and the Government has surely sent the message that the SP state chief and Chief Minister means business ahead of the 2014 lok Sabha elections. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has given his CM son Akhilesh a target for the coming polls. Mulayam's road to
Despite the fact that the party has pooh-poohed all rumours of widespread resentment within the rank and file, the fact remains that the ruling party members are not feeling very comfortable as they have to conform to the party discipline. Perhaps what is most surprising is that in a short period of 15 months of the Akhilesh Yadav Government, the ruling party members have started raising accusing fingers at their own party leadership. A party insider remarked that it was ironical that their own family members were virtually playing into the hands of their political opponents by exposing the party.
In an effort to stem the rising tempers in the ranks, the party has undertaken a revamp exercise as it is trying to replace the errant partymen in various districts. Now, as the lok Sabha polls are drawing near, it is for Akhilesh to prove his mettle.