Akhilesh Yadav sworn in as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister; SP workers on bad behaviour

Lucknow:  New Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will be hoping hard this is not a portent. Barely had the 38-year-old been sworn in as  the state's youngest Chief Minister, that his biggest challenge was demonstrated by his party workers who shoved their way onto the stage and were seen climbing on sofas.

So shortly after being sworn in, the young SP leader assured the people of his state that his government "will not tolerate lawlessness and will tackle it with an iron hand." "Samajwadi Party will fulfill promises made in the manifesto. Law and order will be our responsibility from today," he said. During extensive campaigning in Uttar Pradesh during the recently held polls, Mr Yadav had vowed to cleanse his party of "goonda-giri" or hooliganism; he had also said
that his top priority would be to deliver law and order to a state besieged by crime.

Earlier in the day, Mr Yadav, dressed in white kurta pyjama and black sleeveless jacket and looking uncannily like his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, took oath at 11.34 am at the La Martiniere College grounds in Lucknow.  He firmly shook hands with Governor BL Joshi, and then, a picture of calm, reached into his left breast pocket for a pen, signed and waved to the hundreds of SP supporters who had gathered at the venue since early morning.
Nineteen Cabinet ministers and 29 ministers of state also took oath, among them the controversial independent MLA with criminal antecedents, Raghuraj Pratap Singh or Raja Bhaiyya, who expectedly thrown his lot with the SP. After taking over as the CM, Akhilesh defended Raja Bhaiyya, who has been a minister before in a Mulayam Singh government, and accused his predecessor Mayawati of filing false cases against him. "We all know how cases against Raja Bhaiyya were filed," he said.
"Organised corruption as happened in the previous regime never took place in the state. There were restrictions during the previous government and UP is now celebrating democracy," he added.

In the star-studded audience cheering Mr Yadav at the swearing-in ceremony were Sitaram Yechury, Biman Bose and industrialist Anil Ambani.

His unruly cadres are already proving to be the new UP Chief Minister's Achilles Heel. He has the advantage of having come to power with an unambiguous majority with 224 seats in the 403-seat UP Assembly. He scripted that Samajwadi Party win with a forward-looking agenda that has promised the people of UP freedom from goonda raj and good law and order, jobs and education, and good economics. He now has his task cut out - he has vowed to implement his election manifesto to the full.

Rival parties wager that law and order will deteriorate in a Samajwadi Party regime, as has happened before. Even before Akhilesh was sworn in, he has been called upon to explain violent conduct of SP workers in several places. He had so far pleaded that officials of the old dispensation were to blame. Now, having taken charge, he has to prove that those were not empty words.
Among other things he promised in that document were sops like laptops students who passed class 10, tablet computers to those who passed class 12, allowance to unemployed youths, free treatment to patients suffering from serious ailments and loan waivers for farmers.

Akhilesh will also have to take a call on constituting a commission for taking legal opinion on providing reservation to Muslims and implementing recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Sachar Committee.

The SP leader has also said that rooting out corruption in the state is among his top priorities. And has promised to remove the ban on student politics in the state.

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Akhilesh Yadav to be sworn in as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister today

Lucknow:  Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav is set to take oath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh today for the first time, after his party gained absolute majority by winning 224 seats in the 403-member Assembly.

38-year-old Akhilesh will be the state's youngest chief minister and his Cabinet is likely to be a mix of youth and experience.

He, however, will have his task cut out fulfilling the long list of promises made by his party in its poll manifesto.

Samajwadi Party had announced a slew of poll sops, including providing laptops to intermediate pass students, tablet computers to high-school pass outs, allowance to unemployed youths, free treatment to patients suffering from serious ailments and loan waivers for farmers.

Akhilesh will also have to take a call on constituting a commission for taking legal opinion on providing reservation to Muslims and implementing recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Sachar Committee.

The SP leader has said improving law and order situation and rooting out corruption in the state are among his top priorities.

Besides, restoration of student unions in universities and colleges will also be a challenge for him.

Even before taking the reins of the state, the party is under attack from Opposition parties, including outgoing Chief Minister Mayawati, who has alleged that the law and order situation had deteriorated following declaration of poll results in favour of SP.

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Vijay Bahaguna sworn in as new Uttarakhand Chief Minister after Harish Rawat rebels

Dehradun/New Delhi:  Vijay Bahuguna has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. It was a short ceremony on Tuesday evening, with only Mr Bahuguna taking oath. Getting his government together is likely to be less simple - in resolutely appointing Mr Bahuguna the Congress has ignored the loud rebellion of veteran leader Harish Rawat, who says he should be CM and claims he has the support of many Congress MLAs. Less than half of the Congress' 32 MLAs attended the ceremony in Dehradun.
Many of them were reportedly in Delhi with the sulking Mr Rawat, who has been looked over before by the party leadership, and has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He is said to have threatened to quit the party. Mr Rawat scoffs at his party saying that not too many MLAs support him. "The Congress General Secretary said Harish Rawat has the support of just six MLAs...so if that were true how come only eight Congress MLAs attended the swearing-in ceremony? Where were the rest? My point has been proved," he said to NDTV on Tuesday evening.
Mr Bahuguna, whose problems seem to have only just begun, said before being sworn in, "This is a family matter and will be solved within the family...We will convince everyone...This party is like the Himalayas, it can't be broken."
The BJP clearly thinks differently. It got one seat less than the Congress' 32 in the state and still smells a chance; BJP leaders in the state say they will still form the government in Uttarakhand. Towards that objective, the party is happy to fuel the Congress fire. Sources say Harish Rawat has already met BJP chief Nitin Gadkari; if Mr Rawat quits the Congress, the BJP is said to not be averse to supporting a government led by him.
Both the BJP and Mr Rawat's camp have officially denied any meeting, but BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan said before Mr Bahugana was sworn in, "Bahuguna does not enjoy majority support among Congress MLAs. The Congress is breaching constitutional norms. If the Governor administers oath to Bahuguna, it will allow the Congress to indulge in horse trading to whip up support."
Here are the top 10 facts of this moment in this fast-developing story:
1) Harish Rawat, a veteran Congress leader from the hill state, has written a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi protesting against the "injustice meted out" to him. Mr Rawat contends that he should be the Chief Minister and says he has the support of a majority of the Congress's 32 MLAs. Mr Rawat is a Union Minister and he has reportedly asked Mrs Gandhi to relieve him of his ministerial duties if the party does not believe in him. There are reports that the sulking Mr Rawat might leave the Congress to form his own party along with the MLAs who support him.
2) Though Mr Rawat was a front-runner for the CM's post, the Congress picked Vijay Bahuguna for CM. Vijay Bahuguna is the brother of Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the Congress' president in neighbouring UP. Sources say though  Mr Rawat enjoys the support of many MLAs, the party leadership did not pick him for CM as he had put up many rebel candidates in these elections, which the Congress had expected to win comfortably, but did not.
3) Mr Rawat is in his home in Delhi right now. He says he has the firm support of at least 11 MLAs. With him at his house are 17 Uttarakhand MLAs. Rawat supporters have been raising slogans today demanding that the party leadership do a rethink on who should be CM.   
4) The Congress leadership has held an emergency meeting but has been firm that it will not change its mind. The message from Delhi is that Vijaya Bahuguna will be the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. For the Congress, it is not as easy as making problems vanish by picking Mr Rawat instead of Mr Bahuguna. Both of these local leaders and another one, Harak Singh Rawat, enjoy pockets of influence and the party will face problems whoever it picks.     
5) Harish Rawat did not attend the swearing-in ceremony in Dehradun. 24 MLAs stayed away too.
6) It is a numbers game in Uttarakhand. In the 70-seat House, neither of the two main parties got the 35 seats needed for simple majority. The Congress got 32 and has managed to stake claim with the support of seven others including three BSP MLAs and four Independents, who have made it clear that only Vijay Bahuguna is acceptable to them as CM.
7) The BJP is breathing down the Congress' neck with 31 seats. And still thinks it is in with a chance at forming the government in the state. "We have said from day one that BJP will form the government in Uttarakhand," said BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today, from the sidelines of the Congress high drama.
8) The Congress announced that Mr Bahuguna would be CM after three days of deliberation, on Monday. The factional feud then came out in the open with Mr Rawat's supporters protesting against the announcement. Raising slogans, angry supporters of Mr Rawat gathered at his house here last night, wanted to know why he was ignored for the top slot and egged him to split the party.
9) This is the second time that Mr Rawat's claim has been ignored. About ten years ago, ND Tiwari was made the Chief Minister almost at the 11th hour by the party leadership.
10) In a bid to placate a sulking Mr Rawat, Mr Bahuguna, his sister and UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi met the union minister at his residence. Asked what transpired at the meeting with the brother-sister duo, Mr Rawat said, "They had come to console a loser".

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Vijay Bahuguna to be sworn in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister today; Harish Rawat quits

Dehradun:  Taking a firm stance, the Congress decided to go-ahead with the swearing-in ceremony of Vijay Bahuguna as the Uttarakhand Chief Minister today. Congress leader and union minister Harish Rawat has reportedly threatened to quit the party unless he is made the Chief Minister of the state. Anguished at Vijay Bahuguna being chosen as the Chief Minister, Mr Rawat has reportedly threatened to leave the Congress and take MLAs with him. He has reportedly claimed support of 11 MLAs. Sources say Mr Rawat, who is the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs, could form his own party in the state.

The swearing-in ceremony of Mr Bahuguna as the new Chief Minister is scheduled to be held at 5 pm today.  

According to sources, Mr Rawat has written a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying, "he cannot execute his duties" as a Congress leader anymore unless he is made the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

This was the second time that Mr Rawat's claim has been ignored as some ten years back ND Tiwari was made the Chief Minister almost at the 11th hour by the party leadership.

The Congress, however, attempted to play down the reported revolt by Mr Rawat and his MLAs in Uttarakhand.

"The decision was taken after taking the opinion of the majority. There may be some disappointment with the decision, but I am sure with time, all leaders and their supporters would back the decision," said union minister and Congress leader Ambika Soni.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had to settle with one seat less than the Congress' tally in the Uttarakhand elections, now is sniffing an opportunity and it seems it hasn't given up its hopes on forming the government in the state.

"We have said from day one that BJP will form the government in Uttarakhand," said BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today.

Mr Bahuguna's name as Uttarakhand's new Chief Minister was announced by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi on Monday. The announcement of the Chief Minister came after a considerable delay with Congress leaders and MLAs caught in discussions for around three days after staking claim to form the government.

Mr Rawat and Mr Bahuguna had held a two-hour meeting with Mr Azad and Birender Singh ahead of the decision.The two central leaders had then submitted their report on the views of the party's 32 MLAs on legislative party leadership to Sonia Gandhi on Sunday.

"It was decided by the MLAs and all the party leaders that Vijay Bahuguna will be the chief minister," Mr Azad announced on Monday evening. He also recalled that the party MLAs had, in their meeting after the results were out, authorised Congress president Sonia Gandhi to name the chief minister.

Congress, with 32 seats in a house of 70, had staked its claim to form a government in the Himalayan state late last week after the results on March 6 threw up a hung assembly.

Yesterday, the factional feud came out in the open in Congress' Uttarakhand unit with legislators supporting Mr Rawat protesting the announcement of Mr Bahaguna as the Chief Minister. Raising slogans, angry supporters of Mr Rawat, who gathered at his house here last night, wanted to know why he was ignored for the top slot and egged him to split the party.

In a bid to placate a sulking Mr Rawat, Mr Bahuguna, his sister and UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi met the union minister at his residence. Asked what transpired at the meeting with the brother-sister duo, Rawat said, "They had come to console a loser".

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Goa: Manohar Parrikar sworn in as Chief Minister

Panaji:  BJP leader Manohar Parrikar was sworn in for the third time as the Chief Minister of Goa.
Governor K Sankarnarayanan administered the oath amidst a huge public affair ceremony arranged by the party.
Riding high on the anti-incumbency wave in state, the BJP-led alliance, which includes Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party(MGP), drubbed the Congress by winning 24 of the 40 seats.
Mr Parrikar has been the chief minister twice from October 2000 to February 2005.
Mr Parrikar said yesterday that all the BJP ministers from his 2005 Cabinet would find place in the new dispensation, and that the Budget would be presented around March 24.
"There are five ministers who were in my old Cabinet. They will be sworn-in again," Mr Parrikar said.
Mr Parrikar has promised to make petrol cheaper by 11 rupees by removing the Value added tax (VAT) and set up a Lokayukta within 100 days.
On his Facebook page, Mr Parrikar has also said that an amount of Rs. 1000 will be credited in the bank accounts of housewives every month as a measure to combat price rise and undertaking other infrastructural developments in the state.
"The BJP-MGP alliance will start implementing the manifesto immediately but it would take little time to deliver," he said.
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Manohar Parrikar sworn in as Goa Chief Minister

Panaji:  BJP's Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Goa today.
Mr Parrikar was sworn in by Governor K Sankarnarayanan in a huge public affair ceremony arranged by the party.
A full 12-member Cabinet was sworn in by the Governor. Mr Parrikar has been the chief minister twice from October 2000 to February 2005.
Mr Parrikar said yesterday that all the BJP ministers from his 2005 Cabinet would find place in the new dispensation, and that the Budget would be presented around March 24.
"There are five ministers who were in my old Cabinet. They will be sworn-in again," Mr Parrikar said.
Party sources said that along with Mr Parrikar, five ministers from BJP and two from ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) would also take oath today.
Mr Parrikar later told PTI that soon after the swearing-in, there will be a Cabinet meeting which will list out the priorities.
"I will hand over the list of priorities to the Chief Secretary after the Cabinet meeting," he said.
BJP-MGP alliance will start implementing the manifesto immediately but it would take little time to deliver, he said.
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