Akhilesh Yadav follows in arch enemy Narendra Modi's footsteps

The Samajwadi Party is planning to undertake a huge campaign to give the Akhilesh Yadav-led government an image makeover, says Sharat Pradhan

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to have taken a leaf out of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s all-out election campaign on social networking sites.

The young CM is all set to use Facebook in an effort to promote his own interaction with the masses.

Akhilesh promises to enter into a dialogue with all and sundry via an initiative on Facebook simply called ‘Talk to your CM’.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office described this as a move to garner people’s feedback on various governance issues.

“You too can make a difference to your state” is the punch line of Akhilesh’s soon-to-be-launched campaign.

While some hoardings announcing the plan have already made an appearance in and around Noida, more banners publicising it will be put up across the entire state soon.

“The responses we receive from people will be put up on the website for everyone to see,” said the sources.

Interestingly, soon after taking over as the chief minister in March 2012, Akhilesh had launched an initiative called ‘One idea to CM’ on his Facebook account, which, as the name suggests, sought ideas from those he governed.

"The new campaign is an extension of the same mission through the CM’s Facebook account, which has more than 4.5 lakh followers,” added the source.

With Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the Samajwadi Party is planning to undertake a huge campaign to give the Akhilesh Yadav-led government an image makeover.

The party bigwigs fear, rightly so, that the young CM has earned more brickbats than bouquets in the 23 months since he came to power.

Image: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ' Photograph Courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/yadavakhilesh