Akhilesh Yadav (born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and national president of the Samajwadi Party who served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Having assumed the chief minister's office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he is the youngest person to have held the office till date. Yadav is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Kannauj in the 18th Lok Sabha and the parliamentary party leader of Samajwadi Party in 18th Lok Sabha. A son of veteran Indian politician, Mulayam Singh Yadav, he was elected as the Member of the 13th Lok Sabha in the year 2000 ( by-poll) for the Kannauj constituency. He was elected as the Member of Legislative Assembly for Karhal in the 18th Vidhan Sabha, before resigning and has also been the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from March 2022 to June 2024.

Early life and education

Yadav was born on 1 July 1973 in Saifai, Etawah District, Uttar Pradesh. He was born to Malti Devi and Mulayam Singh Yadav, later Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Malti Devi suffered complications while giving birth to Akhilesh which put her in a vegetative state. She died in 2003. With Mulayam Singh Yadav busy making a career in politics, Akhilesh was brought up mostly by his paternal grandparents. He completed his early education in a local school in Saifai and then one in Etawah town. He was schooled at Dholpur Military School in Dholpur, Rajasthan, then obtained his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Akhilesh Yadav also holds a master's degree in environmental engineering from the University of Sydney, Australia.

Political career

Yadav was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from Kannauj in a by-election in 2000. He was also a member of the Committee on Food, Civil Supplies, and Public Distribution. Yadav served as a Member of the Committee on Ethics from 2000 to 2001 and in 2004 was elected as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha for a second term. He was at times a member of the following committees: Committee on Urban Development, Committee on Provision of Computers for various departments, Committee on Science and Technology, and Committee on Environment and Forests. From 2009–2012 Yadav was elected and served as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha for a second term. During this period he was a member of the following committees: Member of the Committee on Environment and Forests, Committee on Science and Technology, and the JPC on the 2G spectrum case. On 10 March 2012 he was appointed leader of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. On 15 March 2012, at the age of 38, he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the youngest to hold the office. In May 2012 Yadav resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat to further serve as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh after his party won the Assembly elections. In the same month he became Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative council. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the SP-Congress Alliance headed by Yadav was unable to form the government. He submitted his resignation to Governor Ram Naik on 11 March. The 2019 Indian general elections and 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections saw Yadav being elected to the parliament and state assembly simultaneously, with Yadav later retaining his state assembly seat, and thereby submitting his resignation in the Lok Sabha. In 2024 Indian general election Yadav was elected to 18th Lok Sabha from Kannauj.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2012-2017)

Yadav was sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 15 March 2012, aged 38, winning 224 seats in the March 2012 assembly elections. During his tenure, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the most modern and longest expressway in India, was completed and inaugurated. Yadav also launched the "UP100 Police Service", "Women Power Line 1090" and "108 Ambulance Service". Infrastructural accomplishments of his government include projects like the Lucknow Metro Rail, Lucknow International Ekana Cricket Stadium, Janeshwar Mishra Park (Asia's largest park), Jayaprakash Narayan International Convection Center, IT city. His chief ministerial tenure also saw emphasis on developing power sector, modernising the police force, setting up Kisan Bazaars and Mandis, introducing social welfare schemes such as Lohiya Awas Yojana, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Kisan Avam Sarvhit Bima Yojana, Pension Yojna and allotting unemployment allowances. Between 2012-2015, over 15 Lakh laptops were distributed to the 10th and 12th passout students by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, making it one of the largest distribution schemes by any government in the world. Yadav's tenure as chief minister, had some major questionable and controversial decisions. On 28 July 2013, Yadav suspended IAS officer and Noida Sub-Divisional Magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal, after she demolished a wall of an under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village, in the Rabupura area of Jewar. Nagpal was known for taking action against illegal sand-mining, which had caused major environmental impacts. While Nagpal's suspension was supported by Samajwadi Party leaders like Narendra Bhatti and Azam Khan, it condemned by several serving and former IAS officers, as well as leaders from BJP and Congress. Yadav eventually revoked Nagpal's suspension on 22 September 2013. Following the 2014 Badaun gang rape, Yadav drew widespread criticism when he replied to a journalist's question about a sharp rise in rape cases when he replied saying: "It's not as if you faced any danger." The comments came days after Yadav's father and then Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav stated at an election rally that he opposed the death penalty for rapists saying, "Boys will be boys. They make mistakes".

Positions held

Personal life

Akhilesh Yadav is married to Dimple Yadav, a Member of Parliament. The couple has three children; two daughters: Aditi and Tina, and a son, Arjun. Akhilesh is a civil engineer, agriculturist, and socio-political worker. He has a keen interest in sports, mainly football and cricket. His favourite pastimes are reading, listening to music, and watching films. Since Yadav became chief minister, his family was divided into two feuding groups, one siding with him and the other with his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. Akhilesh had the support of his father's cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, while Shivpal later went on to make his own political party, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), which ahead of 2022 elections joined the SP+ coalition, with Shivpal being elected as an MLA on an SP ticket.