Akhilesh Yadav (; born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and national president of the
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With ...
who served as the 20th
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Having assumed office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he is the youngest person to have held the office. Yadav is the
Leader of Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically s ...
in the
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the- ...
since March 2022, an elected
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
for
Azamgarh
Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the ...
in the
17th Lok Sabha
The 17th Lok Sabha was formed by the members elected in the 2019 Indian general election. Elections, all across India, were conducted in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 by the Election Commission of India. Counting started offic ...
, and the incumbent
Member of Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...
for
Karhal in the
18th Vidhan Sabha.
His first significant success in politics was being elected as the Member of the
13th Lok Sabha
The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–O ...
in the year 2000 for the
Kannauj
Kannauj (Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the cla ...
constituency. He is the son of Late
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...
, a veteran Indian politician and the founder of
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With ...
who served as
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
,
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
and three term
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Early life and education
Yadav was born on 1 July 1973 in
Saifai
Saifai is a large village and university town in the Etawah district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is also a sub-division (Tehsil) and Block (''Kshetra Panchayat'') of the Etawah district. It is the birthplace of Mulayam Singh Yadav, ...
,
Etawah District, Uttar Pradesh. He was born to Malti Devi and
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...
, later
Chief minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. Malti Devi suffered complications while giving birth to Akhilesh which put her in a
vegetative
Vegetative describes vegetation. Vegetative may also refer to:
*Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in ...
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
Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the famous Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur District and was formerly seat of the Dholpur (princel ...
,
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
, then obtained his Bachelor's and master's degrees in
Civil Environmental Engineering at
JSS Science and Technology University. Yadav also holds a master's degree in
environmental engineering
Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...
from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...
,
Australia.
Political career
Yadav was elected to the
13th Lok Sabha
The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–O ...
from
Kannauj
Kannauj (Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the cla ...
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
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
14th Lok Sabha
The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Natio ...
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
Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...
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
The 2G spectrum case was a political controversy in which politicians and private officials of the United Progressive Alliance coalition government India were involved in selling or allotting 122 2G spectrum licenses on conditions that prov ...
. On 10 March 2012 he was appointed as leader of the
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With ...
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
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
Legislative council. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the
SP-
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
Alliance headed by Yadav was unable to form the government. He submitted his resignation to Governor
Ram Naik
Ram Naik (born 16 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, served as the 27th Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Political career
Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas i ...
on 11 March.
The
2019 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter ...
s and
2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Uttar Pradesh from 10 February to 7 March 2022 in seven phases to elect all 403 members for the 18th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 M ...
s 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.
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Yadav was sworn in as the 20th
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 15 March 2012, at the age of 38, winning 224 seats in the March 2012 assembly elections.
During his tenure, the
Agra-Lucknow Expressway, which is the most modern and longest expressway in India, being the first of its kind to be built in the shortest span of time, 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
Lucknow Metro is a rapid transit system serving the largest city and the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. Construction of the line begun on 27 September 2014 with the stretch from to Charbagh Railway Station which began its commercial op ...
Rail, Lucknow International
Ekana Cricket Stadium,
Janeshwar Mishra Park (Asia's largest park), Jayaprakash Narayan International Convection Center,
IT city, Lucknow-Ballia
Purvanchal Expressway et al.
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 scheme by any Government in the world.
Positions held
Akhilesh Yadav has been elected 1 time as
MLA and 4 times as
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...
MP.
Personal life
Akhilesh Yadav is married to
Dimple Yadav
Dimple Yadav (born 15 January 1978) is an Indian politician. She is the incumbent Member of Parliament from Mainpuri since December 2022, and has earlier served as Member of the Lok Sabha for two terms from Kannauj. She is the wife of Samajwadi ...
, who is a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
. The couple have two daughters namely Aditi and Tina, and a son, Arjun. Akhilesh by profession, is a
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
, 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
Ram Gopal Yadav (born 29 June 1946) is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. He is the Secretary-General of the Samajwadi Party and the Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha, since 2008. Yadav also served as Lok Sabha MP of Sambhal from ...
, 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.
Family Tree
Akhilesh's father
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...
has 4 real brothers and 1 cousin brother. The family tree of Yadav family is as follows:
* Ratan Singh Yadav (eldest uncle)
** Ranvir Singh Yadav (cousin)
***
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (born 21 November 1987) is an Indian politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Indian Lok Sabha, where he has represented the Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh from 2014 to 2019 as a member of the Samajwadi Party.
Early ...
(nephew)
*
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...
(father)
** Akhilesh Yadav (himself)
** Prateek Yadav (step-brother)
* Abhay Ram Yadav (uncle)
**
Dharmendra Yadav (cousin)
** Anurag Yadav (cousin)
* Rajpal Singh Yadav (uncle)
** Abhishek Yadav (cousin)
** Aryan Yadav (cousin)
*
Shivpal Singh Yadav (youngest uncle)
** Aditya Yadav (cousin)
*
Ram Gopal Yadav
Ram Gopal Yadav (born 29 June 1946) is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. He is the Secretary-General of the Samajwadi Party and the Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha, since 2008. Yadav also served as Lok Sabha MP of Sambhal from ...
(cousin of Mulayam)
**
Akshay Yadav (2nd cousin of Akhilesh)
Note: Prateek Yadav is son of Chandra Prakash Gupta and Sadhna Gupta (2nd wife of
Mulayam
Mulayam is a village in Thrissur district in the state of Kerala, India.
Demographics
India census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This ...
).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Akhilesh
1973 births
Living people
University of Sydney alumni
People from Kannauj
India MPs 2004–2009
India MPs 2009–2014
India MPs 1999–2004
People from Etawah district
Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh
Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
A
Chief ministers from Samajwadi Party
India MPs 2019–present
Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2022–2027
Akhilesh yadav is a politician