Lucknow: It was high drama in Lucknow on Thursday as the Samajwadi Party workers created a ruckus after Akhilesh Yadav's oath-taking ceremony. Despite promises to restore law and order, several ministers with criminal records were sworn into the new Cabinet as well.
Another surprising element of the oath-taking ceremony was that even the common friend of Mayawati and Mulayam, Ponty chadha's son, was also there.
Later, over enthusiastic Samajwadi Party workers took over the stage at the La Martinere ground in Lucknow, breaking tables and crushing every thing in sight. Even the police gave up.
"It's a wonder the stage didn't collapse. If this is an indication of things to come I shudder to think what we are in for the next five years," said senior journalist Sharat Pradhan.
Given its goonda image, the Samajwadi Party did itself no favour by swearing in four tainted ministers including the notorious Raja Bhaiya. He has 35 cases, including those of kidnapping, murder and extortion against him. This after making much noise about keeping Bahubalis like DP Yadav away from the party to project a stain free image.
The new Chief Minister, however, justified the move. He said, "Many cases were slapped on Raja Bhaiya but everyone knows who had made such accusations against him. The opposition had sent him to jail."
After that it was down to business. One of the first orders the 38-year-old Chief Minister passed was sanctioning a Rs 1000 per month unemployment dole. But the question remains – where will the money come from?
If UP's youngest Chief Minister is to fulfill all the promises he has made in the manifesto, it would cost the exchequer Rs 50000 crore annually, something Uttar Pradesh with its Rs 2 lakh crore deficit just cannot afford. His coronation party over, it's now time for Akhilesh Yadav to foot the bill.
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