He may have fulfilled majority of the promises made to the people by his party but he has yet to address the hopes that he had kindled when he assumed office, exactly six months ago.
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, as he completes six months in office, faces challenges bigger than the one he faced when he stepped into the top post.
The biggest challenge that the country’s youngest chief minister now faces is to establish his authority in the corridors of power. In the past six months, Mr Akhilesh Yadav has built his image as a “likeable and good leader” but has yet to assert his authority which is being constantly undermined by his seniors in the government.
This lack of authority is apparently leading to poor governance which, in turn, is tarnishing the image of the government. The chief minister’s orders are not complied with, his decisions are overturned by the senior leaders of the party and the government and he has failed to put his own stamp on the government.
The bureaucracy, in such a situation, tends to go berserk and that is what is happening in Uttar Pradesh at the moment.
The chief minister’s biggest failure in the past six months, however, has been his inability to tackle the issue of corruption. Mr Akhilesh Yadav had promised to tackle corruption on a war-footing, but he has been totally ineffective in doing so. The chief minister has not even accepted the Lokayukta recommendations for a CBI probe against the allegedly corrupt ministers of the previous regime and tainted officers and engineers of the Mayawati regime continue to rule the roost. The government is now perceived as being soft on corruption.
On the law and order front, there has been a marked deterioration and it is the chief minister’s inability to act tough that is largely responsible for this.
Samajwadi Party workers, despite warnings, are making a mockery of the law and the chief minister chooses to remain a mute spectator.