Akhilesh has a lot on his plate ahead of Uttar Pradesh polls

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whose faction was recognised as the real Samajwadi Party (SP) and allotted the ‘cycle’ symbol by the Election Commission, has a lot on his plate, with the high-stakes assembly election staring in his face.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whose faction was recognised as the real Samajwadi Party (SP) and allotted the ‘cycle’ symbol by the Election Commission, has a lot on his plate, with the high-stakes assembly election staring in his face.

Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh waves at his supporters during a Rath Yatra, as part of an election campaign in Lucknow. (Reuters File Photo)

The 43-year-old Akhilesh has, at least, five items on his ‘things to do’ list.

Candidates: At the top of the chief minister’s list is finalising and declaring candidates for the polls. Akhilesh, who has declared 237 candidates so far, is preparing the final list, with the notification being issued on Tuesday for the first phase of polling on February 11.

“A fresh list of candidates will be declared soon,” Akhilesh told party workers on Tuesday.

Campaign: The SP campaign had suffered miserably due to the feud in the Yadav family. Mulayam Singh Yadav had called off his series of rallies, and Akhilesh’s rath yatra too did not run well. Akhilesh is finalising his campaign, and is giving top priority to the western UP region as it is going to the polls first.

Alliance: Possible alliance partners have been waiting for the fate of the SP to be clear. Now that they have limited time ahead of the polls, Akhilesh can discuss alliances with the Congress or other parties, so that distribution of seats is finalised.

To bring Mulayam onboard: Akhilesh and senior party leaders like Kironmoy Nanda will focus on bringing in party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav as the star campaigner. Efforts on these lines are already underway. “I will be in Lucknow on Tuesday and will meet Mulayam,” Nanda said.