Mulayam to have more say in Akhilesh's UP core team

Even as Uttar Pradesh chief minister designate Akhilesh Yadav was awaiting his coronation on Thursday, his father and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was busy giving final touches to the formation of the son's first government.

Akhilesh, who will be the youngest chief minister of India's most populous state, was fleeting in and out of his father's quarters where the senior Yadav was taking the final call on who should or should not be inducted into the son's cabinet.

What Mulayam was understood to be finalising were the portfolios to be allocated to each of the proposed members of the new council of ministers as also the list of bureaucrats to be entrusted with the key positions.

While Mulayam was stated to have decided to do away with the post of cabinet secretary, that was specially created by outgoing chief minister Mayawati, he was understood to be keen to entrust the chief secretary's position to a highly reputed 1978 batch IAS officer who had just returned to the Union government after completing a stint in United States.

Since the officer had not yet given his consent to return to the parent cadre, feelers were also sent to a 1976 batch officer holding a key position at the Centre to take charge as chief secretary in Lucknow. This officer was also known for his integrity and efficiency.

While Akhikesh was understood to be given the privilege to handpick a few youngsters out of the newly elected legislators as members of his cabinet, the selection of top bureaucrats and policemen was being done largely by Mulayam himself.

According to informed sources, two senior bureaucrats who had held the top positions during Mulayam's last chief ministerial stint were consulted by him to finalise the list of officials to form Akhilesh's core team for looking after the state's governance.

It is learnt that two tainted former UP chief secretaries, who were currently out of jail on parole, had tried to influence Mulayam in selecting his son's team.

Significantly, Mulayam was understood to have kept them at a distance and instead chose to take advice from the upright ones. However, yet another senior IAS officer, who was widely known to have minted billions, continued to enjoy proximity to the SP supremo and was known to have planted the names of a few equally corrupt officials for some of the key jobs. Whether these names would get Mulayam's final nod would be known on Thursday.

Insiders claimed that Akhilesh had made it loud and clear to his father that he would not tolerate any tainted official in his key team. As such, Mulayam too was taking care to avoid entry of the tainted and the corrupt bureaucrats, some of whom were otherwise seen hovering around the SP headquarters over the past few days.

It is believed that some officials holding important positions during the outgoing regime were also likely to be retained on key assignments, because Akhilesh's emphasis was on ensuring delivery and opposed to any kind of witch-hunting.