Why Akhilesh's road show in US is in limbo

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's proposed visit to the US in July to boost investment chances in the state now appears to be in limbo with his Samajwadi party taking a belligerent anti-US stand.

The chief minister and his delegation are scheduled to visit Boston, New York, Chicago and other American cities at the invitation of the US India Business Council to boost investment chances in the state.

The road shows and official meetings that were planned for Akhilesh's July trip hags in balance, said a senior USIBC member.

The New York road show is being planned at the same venue that Yadav boycotted in protest against his Cabinet colleague Azam Khan's brief detention at the Boston airport.

"We have not heard anything to the contrary so far but I guess it could be a rough ride. It would no longer be a smooth trip the way we planned it," the USIBC member said.

The work on creating an industry and investment friendly environment in Uttar Pradesh with the help of US investors has now been derailed, he said.

"We never expected this from a state's chief executive," the senior member lamented.

However, during his stay in New York, the Chairman of USIBC and CEO of Mastercard Ajay Banga and USIBC President Ron Somers met Yadav in his suite and took him out for dinner to thrash out the issue of official visit and road show slated for July.

Both the USIBC leaders met Yadav in Lucknow in March when the road show was confirmed.

Khan, a senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party in UP and also the state Urban Development minister who was accompanying Yadav, was detained for about 10 minutes at the Boston Logan International Airport for "further questioning" after he landed in a scheduled British Airways flight from India last month.