UP Information Department (UPID) officials are already busy drawing up plans for a multi-crore media blitzkried aimed at an image makeover for the junior Yadav chieftain, reminding political watchers here of a similar drive undertaken by the Congress Party for its uncrowned prince Rahul Gandhi before the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is desperately trying to keep his head above his dad's shadow looming large over him ever since he took over in March 2012. Now, as he faces elections less than a year and a half away, UP's youngest ever CM is trying to throw off the parental yoke and develop an individual identity – that of a young, dynamic leader who delivers what he promises.
UP Information Department (UPID) officials are already busy drawing up plans for a multi-crore media blitzkried aimed at an image makeover for the junior Yadav chieftain, reminding political watchers here of a similar drive undertaken by the Congress Party for its uncrowned prince Rahul Gandhi before the 2014 Lok Sabha election. If sources in the UPID are to be believed, the cost of this rather ambitious image-building exercise would be in the region of a whopping Rs 300 crore.
Principal Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal, who is the brain behind the entire gambit, confirms that a media plan is indeed on the anvil, but has a slightly different take on it. "The basic idea is to popularize the government schemes meant for the common man, especially the farmers and the poor. The CM wants the benefits of the government initiatives taken over the last three years to reach the people they are meant for," he says, vehemently denying that it's all "election-specific".
Akhilesh, in fact, virtually got the shock of his life when, at a recent public function organized to give out ex gratia cheques, an old woman beneficiary refused to even recognize him! The CM had asked her if she knew who he was and which party was running the present government in UP. The old woman just stared at him blankly, nodding her ignorance.
The CM was understandably livid. Partymen and officials shrunk as he gave them a freezing glare. "People don't even know me or my government. This is the way you work," he exploded, though in rather subdued tones. The cue was enough for the official machinery to pull up its socks and get down to brasstacks.
Akhilesh, in any case, has been fighting against all odds to outgrow the image of the "beta" (son) who has been handed over the "raj gaddi" (throne) by his "pita" (father). Dad Mulayam continues to be a towering figure in national politics, despite the lean presence of the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha (a meagre five members).
But, Akhilesh made his intentions clear when he stayed away from the recent merger of six "third front" parties, including Laloo Yadav's RJD and Sharad Yadav's JD (U). On the day Mulayam addressed the joint press conference in Delhi, Akhilesh took off for Germany, a visit which he had cancelled earlier.
"There's no doubt that 'netaji' (Mulayam) is our supremo, and our respect for him can never be diluted. But, there's a time when the old should give place to the new. That time has come," says a senior SP leader. "It's high time Akhilesh takes off on his own. The sooner that happens, the better for him, the party and also for the state," he says, echoing the widespread feeling within the party.
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